PHOENIX – Just seven months after Bow River Capital Partners in Denver, Colo. (Blair Richardson, Eric Wolf, co-founders) and Fenway Properties in San Diego, Calif. (Larry Jackel, principal) finalized the sale of an office tower on Central Avenue in midtown Phoenix, the two companies completed the trade of another office project located two miles up the road. In the recent deal, a fund managed by Bow River Capital Partners paid $27.95 million ($128.54 per foot) to acquire 217,434 sq. ft. of office space in two buildings located along the east side of 7^th Street and just south of Camelback Road in Phoenix. Fenway XV LLC, a company formed by Fenway Properties, was the seller. Steve Lindley, Eric Wichterman, Tracy Cartledge, Bob Buckley and Mike Coover of Cushman & Wakefield in Phoenix negotiated the sale. The office complex, called Valley Commerce Center, is 81.4 percent occupied. Developed in 1984 on 8.2 acres, the project is comprised of four-story structures with 109,735 sq. ft. at 4745 N. 7^th Street and 107,699 sq. ft. at 4747 N. 7^th Street. Scott Boardman and Dave Carder of Cushman & Wakefield are taking over the leasing assignment. Maricopa County records show RE II Office IV LLC (Bow River Capital Partners entity) acquired the real estate with a $27.35 million loan issued by NXT Capital Investment Advisers LLC in Chicago, Ill. Proving that 13 can be a lucky number, in June 2006 just before the downturn in the economy, BREW reported Fenway Properties paying $22.25 million ($102.33 per foot) to buy Valley Commerce Center. Unlike many real estate investors who unloaded or walked away from Valley real estate due to the market crash, Fenway Properties hung in there for 13 years and was able to sell the office buildings for $5.7 million more than what the company paid to purchase the asset. Bow River Capital Partners, a privately-held alternative asset management firm, has now completed two acquisitions from entities formed by Fenway Properties. In November, BREW reported another Bow River Capital fund paying just over $14.65 million ($51.46 per foot) to buy a 20-story, 284,709-square-foot office tower at 3550 N. Central Avenue in Phoenix. That acquisition included the fee interest in half of the 8.8-acre project, the assumption of a ground lease for the remaining 4.4 acres of the site, a four-story attached annex and zoning approval for the future development of a luxury apartment complex and accompanying parking structure. AEW Capital Management in Boston, Mass. was Fenway Properties’ partner in that development, which is known as Grand Central Tower. Sources say Bow River Capital Partners also have ownership in multi-family and retail properties in the Valley and principals of the company are looking to grow its real estate portfolio in the Phoenix market. Find out more from Garrett Neiffer of Bow River Capital Partners at (303) 861-8466. Call Jackel at (858) 436-3600. Reach the Cushman & Wakefield brokers at (602) 954-9000.

PHOENIX – In acquisitions totaling almost $21.4 million, entities formed by ViaWest Properties LLC in Phoenix (Gary Linhart, Steven Schwarz, Danny Swancey, principals) has acquired just under 275,000 sq. ft. of existing industrial buildings and land to develop another 375,000 sq. ft. of industrial space in two separate locations in Phoenix. Bayless Investment & Trading Co. in Phoenix (Linda Bayless, pres.) was the seller of the properties in three cash transactions. John Werstler and Cooper Fratt of CBRE in Phoenix brokered the deals and will be leasing the projects going forward. In the largest of the sales, a joint venture formed by ViaWest and Prospect Ridge Advisors LLC in New York City, N.Y. paid $18,681,250 to acquire 272,973 sq. ft. of warehouse and cold storage space in two buildings on a 25-acre site at the southeast corner of Central Avenue and Buckeye Road. Maricopa County records show PR VWP Central Property LLC (Prospect Ridge/ViaWest company) was the buyer of that project, which is located just south of Downtown Phoenix. The purchase included a 196,672-square-foot cross-dock warehouse at 111 E. Buckeye Road that is fully leased to Ferguson Plumbing Supply and a 76,301-square-foot freezer storage facility at 202 E. Buckeye Road that is vacant. Plans for the project include the immediate renovation of the cold storage building and adding 250,000 + sq. ft. of new warehouse space in a phased expansion of the Central Avenue property, which is about half developed. Initially, the venture intends to build a 71,346-square-foot warehouse adjacent south of the cold storage and a 93,628-square-foot industrial building at the southwest corner of the project. Both of those structures should be available for occupancy by summer of 2020. A mirror building of 93,628 sq. ft .is targeted for the final phase of development. The start of construction on that warehouse is not expected to start until Ferguson’s lease expires in three years. The matching, 32-foot clear height structures are each divisible to accommodate two tenants. Plans also call for a 35,079-square-foot pad (.80-acre) at the hard corner of Central Avenue and Buckeye Road that is suitable for a retail/restaurant building of around 4,000 sq. ft. In the other location within the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport submarket, two ViaWest entities paid a combined $2,681,249 ($6.71 per foot) to acquire 9.17 acres surrounding the northwest corner of Superior Avenue and 44^th Street that is targeted for 150,700 sq. ft. of Class A industrial space in two buildings. The two parcels, both located within opportunity zones, are south of University Drive and west of State Route 143. In a $1,348,369 sale, VWPOZ 44^th Industrial LLC (ViaWest entity) acquired a 4.614-acre parcel located along the west side of 44^th Street and just north of Superior Avenue. That site is planned for a 79,200-square-foot structure. In the other transaction, VWPOZ Superior Industrial LLC (ViaWest entity) paid $1,332,880 to buy a 4.56-acre parcel along the north side of Superior Avenue and just west of 44^th Street. That site is planned for a 71,500-square-foot building. The space will be divisible to accommodate two to four tenants. Construction set to start late Fall with completion expected by June of 2020. Development cost (land and buildings) estimated at $17 + million. Construction financing now being arranged. Linhart says the company is developing the spec buildings through an opportunity zone fund it is managing and is looking to take advantage of the limited industrial space available in the area. “There is very little developable land immediately near the airport,” says Linhart. “The airport market is very tight.” Over the past few years, ViaWest has been involved in more than $350 million of real estate acquisitions and developments in the Phoenix area. In 2018, the privately-held ViaWest participated in acquiring 1.3 + million sq. ft. of office and industrial space in the Valley in five deals totaling $156 million. “The Phoenix industrial market has really matured and infill development sites are much harder to find,” says Linhart. “This deal gives us the opportunity to expand our development footprint in two attractive locations in the Sky Harbor/South Central submarkets to meet growing demand from industrial tenants for infill locations.” While ViaWest has been active in the Valley, the investment is the first in the Phoenix market for Prospect Ridge, which is an affiliate of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. in New York City, N.Y. (NYSE:AB). That global investment management and research firm, with $286.7 billion in assets under management, teamed up with ViaWest in July 2015 and paid $163.1 million ($257.48 per foot) to buy the 633,459-square-foot office Biltmore Financial Center office project at the northwest corner of 24^th Street and Camelback Road in Phoenix. Find out more from the ViaWest principals at (602) 957-8300. Talk to Bayless at (602) 943-1323. Reach the CBRE agents at (602) 735-5555.