Crown West Realty

PHOENIX – Announcing today its purchase of the Arizona Business Park, Crown West Realty’s commercial holdings now near one million square feet in the greater Phoenix area. This purchase, Crown West’s largest to date, is their fifth Phoenix-area acquisition in less than three years and brings the value of their Phoenix portfolio to over $130 million. In addition, this transaction marks Crown West’s first acquisition with institutional joint-venture partner St. Paul Properties, a wholly-owned subsidiary of St. Paul Travelers.

Crown West purchased a 10-building portfolio totaling 440,000 square feet within the Arizona Business Park from Estes-Samuelson, LLC, for just under $52 Million. Arizona Business Park is located between Bell and Greenway Roads west of Interstate 17 in the Black Canyon / Deer Valley submarket. Construction on this Class A office and flex-office business park originally began in 1986 with the remainder of the buildings added periodically through 1999. The latest addition was the Class A, 106,000 square foot corporateheadquarter building currently leased by Bank One, which is, perhaps, the most prominent building in its submarket. Other tenants in the fully-leased Arizona Business Park portfolio include Wells Fargo, TriWest Healthcare, Hypercom Corporation, NCS Pearson and Arizona Conservatory for the Arts and Academics.

“Arizona Business Park is ideal for our portfolio; it’s centrally located and has strong, highprofile tenants. The property’s proximity to both I-17 and the Loop 101, as well as its access to the area’s abundant amenities, housing and diverse labor pool, creates an appeal unlike that of business parks in other Phoenix submarkets. In addition to the satisfaction that comes with acquiring a portfolio of this quality, we’ve realized an opportunity to enter into a relationship with St. Paul Properties, an organization that has tremendous integrity and real estate investment sophistication,” states Bob Olshan, Vice President of Crown West Realty.

Crown West began its buying spree in the Phoenix area in December of 2001 with the purchase of the Elliot Corporate Center. Other acquisitions over the past two and a half years include the Southbank Business Park, Lakeview Business Center, Broadway Court, and now, the Arizona Business Park. Richard Rollnick, President of Crown West explains, “The overall strength and diversity of the Phoenix market, fueled by business expansion and population increases, make Phoenix one of our prime markets for continued portfolio growth. It is our intent to acquire several more quality projects yet this year.”

While Crown West has shown a knack for taking underperforming properties, implementing remedial strategies and dramatically improving value, the firm also pursues stabilized properties and is active in build-to-suit and speculative industrial and office projects.

Crown West Realty, formed in 1996, is a privately-owned real estate investment, development and management firm with administrative headquarters in Spokane, Wash., and executive offices in Phoenix and New York City. Crown West owns and manages nearly seven million square feet of leased industrial and business properties along with 600 acres of zoned industrial and commercial land.

Parties interested in leasing information or acquisitions should contact Richard Rollnick or Bob Olshan at (602) 288-3836.