Office Market Activity Sparks Up, Multifamily Luxury Market Records Encouraging Deal

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

It’s time for large deals again in the Phoenix market as two of the city’s best Class A high rises commanded one of the larger prices in 2011’s transaction history. The trade also includes a parking structure. The buildings switched ownership for the total amount of $137 million, making the two Tempe buildings part of the largest sale in recent memory.

Comprising a total 439,100 square feet, the buildings currently have a 100 percent occupancy rate. The sole tenant is the University of Phoenix, the institution owning an agreement that would keep the school on site through 2023. Though the largest in months, the Fountainhead Parkway high rise deal is not one of a kind. Cole Real Estate Investments recently purchased the PetSmart corporate headquarters, also located in Phoenix, for a total of $102.5 million, The Phoenix Business Journal reports.

After Tempe Tower’s failure to reach the market with its luxury units—the new owner converted the units to conventional apartments—it looked like Phoenix’s luxury market was in for a slow year. However, PrivatePortfolio Group, a Seattle-based real estate company, recently sealed a $32.8 million agreement for a luxury apartment community in Goodyear.

The massive complex, located at 2400 North Bullard Avenue, was finished in 2008. The luxury apartment community has 328 units. The occupancy rate of the complex at the time of the sale was 93 percent. The seller, made up of Globe Corp. of Scottsdale and Trammel Crow Residential of Austin, was represented by Tyler Anderson, Sean Cunningham and Asher Gunter of CB Richard Ellis, The Phoenix Business Journal reports.