Terminix Inks Westgate’s Biggest Office Lease; Griffin Pays $54.5M for Deer Valley Office Complex

By Amalia Otet, Associate Editor

Terminix plans to expand its operations to Arizona and open a new customer care center at Westgate Entertainment District in Glendale.

In a deal touted as the largest office lease in the property’s history, the Memphis, Tenn.-based pest-control company will occupy the entire 32,800 -square-foot second floor of the east building beginning Oct. 1. The new facility will bring a total of 300 new jobs to the area.

“This lease is a validation of the market’s response to the nearly $1 million in investments iStar has made in upgrades to the property over the past year,” said Jeff Teetsel, Westgate’s development manager.

Located at 6770 North Sunrise Blvd., Westgate is anchored by Jobing.com Arena, home of the Phoenix Coyotes. Other tenants include Buffalo Wild Wings, Whiskey Rose Bar & Grill, Chipotle, Gallery Glendale and the Arizona Republic, which relocated its West Valley office earlier this year according to AZ Business Magazine.

In transaction news, an affiliate of Los Angeles-based Griffin Capital Corp. has acquired a 232,600 square-foot, Class A, two building office complex in Phoenix in a $54.5 million deal. Located north of Downtown Phoenix in the Deer Valley submarket, the two-building asset is triple-net leased to a tenant described by Griffin Capital as a Fortune 500 global healthcare services company.

The seller, an unidentified institutional investor, was represented by Chris Toci, Chad Littell, Tim Whittemore of Cushman & Wakefield Inc.’s Phoenix office, as well as Robert Elms and Ben Cooper, New York City-based members of Cushman & Wakefield’s corporate finance and investment banking team.

The deal marks the second local acquisition by Griffin Capital Essential Asset REIT Inc.; last month, it purchased a 231,400-square-foot, Class A, flex R&D facility in Chandler for approximately $32.5 million.

Photo Credits: Westgate Office