True North/Crown West drops $29.925 million for office/flex space at Cotton Center
BREW
Business Real Estate Weekly of Arizona
www.brewaz.com
Phoenix, AZ – A joint venture formed by True North Management Group in White Plains N.Y. (Desmond McGowan, principal) and Crown West Realty, LLC in Phoenix (Bob Olshan, pres.) paid a combined $29.925 million ($113.15 per square foot blended average) to acquire 264,424 sq. ft. of office and flex space located within the Cotton Center business park in Phoenix.
The sellers in two cash transactions were commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS) managed by LNR Partners LLC in Miami Beach, Fla. The assets were sold through www.auction.com. The property sales were negotiated through Eric Wichterman and Mike Coover of DTZ in Phoenix.
In the larger of the two transactions, Cotton Corporate Center JVE – Flex LLC (True North/Crown West entity) paid $17.85 million ($120.92 per foot) to purchase 147,618 sq. ft. of flex space in two, 73,809-square-foot structures located at 4625 and 4675 E. Cotton Center Boulevard. The seller was MSCI 2007-IQ16 Office 4625 LLC, which is owned by the registered holders of Morgan Stanley Capital I Inc. Commercial Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates Series 2007-IQ16.
In the other transaction, Cotton Corporate Center JVE – Office LLC (True North/Crown West entity) paid $12.075 million ($103.33 per foot) to acquire a 116,858-square-foot office building at 4645 E. Cotton Center Boulevard. The seller was MSCI 2007-IQ16 Complex 4645 LLC, for the registered holders of Morgan Stanley Capital I Inc. Commercial Mortgage Pass-Through Certificate Series 2007-IQ16.
The mirror flex buildings were sold by Wichterman, Coover and Will Strong of DTZ in Phoenix. That space, which was developed in 2000, is 87 percent leased. The two-story office structure, called Cotton Corporate Center, was sold through Wichterman, Coover, Jeff Wentworth and Sean Spellman of DTZ. The vacant office is being leased through Wentworth and Spellman.
The previous owner of the Cotton Center office and flex space lost the property to foreclosure.
The investment is the first in the Phoenix market for the privately-held True North (Richard Gunthel, Paul Turovsky, founding principals). While the deal is the first in the Valley for True North, its partner in the Cotton Center investment has made numerous real estate plays in the Phoenix area for more than a decade.
Crown West Realty, a subsidiary of Petrus Partners Ltd. in New York City, N.Y., is looking for additional investment opportunities in the Valley. Learn more from Daniel Guerra of True North at (914) 304-8706. Bob Olshan of Crown West Realty is at (602) 288-3636, ext 203. Call Kevin Hanson of LNR Partners at (949) 885-8500. The DTZ agents are at (602) 954-9000.