The Mill Also Rises

Eric Thunberg is strikingly relaxed for being a 26 year old with a $6.5 million mortgage. The new owner of the Palisades Mill Complex says he was excited, not nervous upon signing on the dotted line.

“It was harder during the due diligence period, double and triple checking the numbers and making sure I had considered everything” he said. “I was excited to finally sign the papers and know that I can act to put all my plans in place.”

 Thunberg credits the Guariello family for being such good stewards of the mill. “If they had not kept the complex in such good shape I could never have taken it on” he said. Anthony Guariello, Jr. bought the mill in 1966 after it had stood idle for almost 20 years. Guariello ran a textile dyeing business called Palisades Industries, and from there the complex took its current name. According to Thunberg, the Palisades moniker will remain the same. “I think Palisades Mill is a great name and I want to honor the Guariello family, who took such great care of the property.”

Currently 33 percent of the space is leased to commercial operations. A previous potential buyer was interested in developing the complex into mixed use residential/retail/commercial space. Thunberg has no plans at this time to follow that model. He believes there is not enough large industrial/commercial space in town and that will remain his focus.

“My goal is to stabilize the property with rental income first and then the possibilities are endless” he said. He is flexible and years down the road if it seems like a mixed use occupancy will work he will consider it. “Right now I have a selfish reason not to be a residential landlord” he said, “that means tenants will be calling up in the middle of the night or on weekends because the toilet is running. Commercial and industrial occupancies are usually 9-5, Monday through Friday.”

Thunberg knows how it is to be a landlord, since he already owns a four-unit residential property on High St. in which he lives. He already knows how to be a business owner as well: just one year after he graduated from North Kingstown High School he founded the company E-Sports Entertainment, which developed software to help facilitate people playing video games to connect online and play against each other.

From that company came E-Sports Services, a consulting firm that works with large companies like Toyota and Intel as well as the US Army to help them learn how multi-player online gaming can help them reach their goals.

Although his father Bruce Thunberg tried to talk him out of the purchase of Palisades Mill, he really had no leg to stand on because he was the former owner of the mill at 10 High St. Eric's mother Virginia Brewer leased space at Palisades years ago for her own business, Rugged Wear.

“I grew up in both mills and that was my norm” said Thunberg, “ both my parents were their own bosses and I just thought that was how life was.” After his father knew he couldn't talk him out of it, the best advice he gave was to be fair with the tenants, especially the smaller tenants because they will become bigger tenants and also to provide a clean, well maintained building. 

There is currently space available ranging from 300-46,000 sq ft. and Thunberg said he is hoping to reveal two big signings within the month. If you are interested, you can email him at eric@thunberg.com or call him at 401-236-1388.