About

Building A Better Community One Project At A Time




Our Company

TD Thornton Group is a land development company specializing in residential projects within the Silicon Valley. We deliver high-quality, value-oriented homes to our local community.

We also provide consulting services to clients who need professional management for their residential or commercial developments. We offer asset management services including acquisition, development, construction, tenant improvements, property management, financing and divestiture.  We help our clients build and manage their own real estate portfolios with our in-depth knowledge of the communities in which we live, work and build.  Our clients get access to the same great professionals that we use to plan and execute our development projects.

Our Philosophy

Most of our projects are located in infill markets, where local community involvement and governmental oversight can be intensive.  The list of stakeholders is long.  Of course you have to consider the potential buyers or renters, but also neighbors, community groups, city officials, regulatory agencies, utility companies, local businesses, etc.  Getting this diverse group to agree upon “change” can be difficult.

Yet great challenges can give way to equally great rewards. Even though California has a reputation for being anti-business, most forget to mention that a good lifestyle is the equal and opposite counterweight. The intent of the laws, regulatory oversight and local activism seen throughout California is to better the communities in which we live. In that intent, we are able to find common ground for building consensus.

Our goal is to seek out the needs and concerns of the community in order to provide a more successful project. TD Thornton is committed to bringing these core principles to our work:

  • Vision for a better community
  • Leadership to guide the way
  • Responsibility to our community members and the environment
  • Expertise to overcome difficult challenges, and
  • Respect for those that participate in the process.

Together, we strive to build a better community, one project at a time.

Our Principals

Nathan Merlin is a licensed Civil Engineer in the State of California with over 14 years of project management experience in civil engineering and land development. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in environmental engineering from Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo. His diverse professional resume spans both public and private sectors as a regulator, owner’s representative, consultant and small business owner.  He has managed dozens of projects involving site acquisition, development or environmental cleanup. In 2005, Mr. Merlin founded TD Thornton Group where he began sponsoring his own development projects. Because of his prior experience with difficult permitting and design issues, he has been successful at creating and entitling land development projects in the challenging Silicon Valley market.

David Luedtke is a licensed Real Estate Broker and has 20 years of experience in the San Francisco Bay Area real estate industry.  Mr. Luedtke owned and operated PCI, an architectural, engineering and development company in Silicon Valley since its founding year in 1987.  At PCI, Mr. Luedtke developed commercial properties throughout Silicon Valley for some of the world’s largest tech companies.  He sold the company to a large real estate firm in 2000 and turned his focused onto local residential development.  He has sponsored several residential, commercial and mixed-use development projects over the last 14 years.

Tim Proschold is a licensed Civil Engineer in the State of California as well as a licensed Real Estate Broker.  Mr. Proschold graduated from Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo with a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering and U.C. Berkeley with a Master’s in structural engineering. Prior to joining TD Thornton, he worked as a civil and structural engineer for several consulting firms and large public water agencies. During his tenure in engineering, Mr. Proschold managed the design and construction of many large municipal & private projects. He has been co-sponsor on land development projects with TD Thornton Group since its founding year in 2005. Mr. Proschold recently obtained an MBA from Santa Clara University with a finance concentration.