Crown West Realty

by Beverly Ford
GlobeSt.com

PHOENIX-EaglePicher Technologies has some sky-high aspirations. The privately held advanced-technology firm, which makes batteries for the space station and defense department, has taken on a new challenge–filling a 103,600-sf building in Southbank Business Park with its corporate headquarters.

The company, a subsidiary of EaglePicher Inc., leased the fully furnished 3402 E. University Dr. building from Spokane, WA-based Crown West Realty LLC for the next 13 years at a cost of about $15 million. Renovations, including the construction of a 5,000-sf addition and the upgrading of its manufacturing space, will be done before move-in, which is set for early next year, Bob Olshan, Crown West’s asset manager for the Southwest tells GlobeSt.com. Crown West will assist in the renovations with the installation of 100 covered and lighted parking canopies and upgraded power.

For Crown West, placing the firm into the office/warehouse facility was a real coup. The privately owned real estate investment, development and management company purchased the property from Citizens Bank in January when the lender foreclosed. The hope was to have it fully leased within two years, Olshan says. Instead, the property, which sat vacant since its former tenant and owner, Motion Systems, moved out more than a year ago, was leased up in 10 months.

“To have completed the purchase transaction and have the building fully leased to a high-profile organization like EaglePicher in a span of 10 months has exceeded our expectations,” Olshan says, noting that the building’s two prior owners had never been able to fully lease the recently built structure despite the Southbank building’s state-of-the-art telecommunications and climate-controlled systems along with a prime Valley location.

Dave Johnson and Bob Kling, both with Lee & Associates Arizona, helped Crown West in the lease negotiations with the tenant, which has locations in 11 states and Mexico, the United Kingdom and Germany. EaglePicher was assisted by Bob Kawa of Kawa & Associates of Phoenix.