Mathias Properties Inc.

Formed in 1996, Mathias Properties Inc. of Springdale manages about 3.4 million SF of commercial space owned by its family of affiliated companies. Most of the properties are concentrated in Benton and Washington counties with a scattering of projects in Fort Smith, Russellville, Benton and Tulsa.

“We have the rainbow of commercial real estate except for apartments,” said Arthur Thurman, president of Mathias Properties since November 2006.

The company’s management portfolio is dominated by two sectors: retail, 54%, and office-warehouse, 39%.

“Our company growth has been in managing and developing those office-warehouse properties,” Thurman said. “We’ve been aggressive at growing that segment of our business.”

More than 95% of its space is occupied, which he credits to the hard work of the staff, which has doubled in size during his 15 years at the helm. The additions include forming a construction and maintenance crew and more accounting personnel.

“The portfolio is in as good a shape as it’s been in,” Thurman said. “We’re doing some pretty incredible things with 26 people.”

He is most proud of the effort to refine the company’s operational systems while developing and expanding the staff, which positioned the company for the challenges of the COVID era.

“It really set us apart from a lot of other commercial real estate companies,” Thurman said. “We were developing the metrics all along to the point where COVID hit, we were able to develop and apply those different procedures toward helping our tenants.”

Mathias Properties kept in close contact with tenants to keep them apprised of the latest developments during the pandemic and guide them to different varieties of COVID relief.

“We were constantly advising these small-business owners through emails and conversations,” Thurman said of the phenomenal effort and phenomenal result. “They were looking for trust and confidence and who would stand with them. We wanted to be known for weathering the storm on our own and helping our tenants through it.”

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