Whitestone REIT Pays $29M for Scottscale Retail Center

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

In a $28.8 million deal, Westwood Financial Corp. has sold a 113,000-square-foot community center in Scottsdale to Houston-based Whitestone REIT, the Phoenix Business Journal reported. For Whitestone, the deal marked the REIT’s seventh acquisition in the Phoenix metropolitan market since Sept. 2010.

 “We believe that the North Scottsdale market, which is showing signs of recovery from the recession, is a great hedge against inflation, particularly the purchases we have made at significantly discounted prices for properties with in-place cash flow,” said Whitestone chairman & CEO James Mastandrea. Six days after announcing the purchase of the Pinnacle property, Whitestone disclosed that it had acquired the note and deed for an adjacent 4.5-acre development site. Since Sept. 2010, the REIT has invested about $73 million in the metropolitan Phoenix market.

Located at the northeast corner of Pinnacle Peak and Scottsdale roads, the property is anchored by a Safeway store and an Ace Hardware outlet. Other national brands represented include Subway and Starbucks. Lee and Associates arranged the sale. According to its Web site, Westwood Financial’s Phoenix-area portfolio includes 14 other properties in Mesa, Glendale, Tempe, Cave Creek and Scottsdale. The largest of the centers is Legacy Village, a 334.000-square-foot power center anchored in Phoenix. Westwood Financial owns more than 100 properties in 14 states from coast to coast.

The Business Journal also reported that Arizona Production & Packaging, a beverage manufacturing and bottling company, inked a 56,800-square-foot lease at Opus Commons in Tempe. The property is owned by Johnson Grove Partnership in Phoenix.  Steve Grossoehme of Rein & Grossoehme Commercial Real Estate of Scottsdale arranged the deal, for which terms were not disclosed.