Crown West Realty

Crown West, partner buy Phoenix office complex in $52 million transaction

By Linn Parish
JOURNAL OF BUSINESS

A joint venture involving Crown West Realty LLC, the Spokane-based real estate company that owns the large Spokane Business & Industrial Park, has bought for just under $52 million the Arizona Business Park, in Phoenix.

Located in northern Phoenix, the property includes 10 buildings with a total of 440,000 square feet of floor space. The acquisition is the largest that Crown West has been involved in to date, the company says.

The complex currently is fully occupied.

It’s home to the 106,000-square-foot corporate headquarters of Bank One Corp. and also accommodates operations for Wells Fargo Bank, the Arizona Conservatory for the Arts and Academics, and a number of other tenants, Crown West says.

The joint venture, called CWSP LLC, is owned by Crown West and St. Paul Properties, a wholly-owned subsidiary of St. Paul Travelers. Crown West is the joint venture’s managing partner.

The acquisition is Crown West’s fifth purchase in the Phoenix market in less than three years and brings the value of the company’s portfolio there to more than $130 million.

Crown West President Richard Rollnick says the business expansion and population increases in the Phoenix area make the Arizona city a desirable location for Crown West to buy more properties.

“It is our intent to acquire several more quality projects yet this year,” he says.

Formed in 1996, Crown West has offices in Phoenix and New York City in addition to its headquarters here. The company currently owns and manages nearly 7 million square feet of industrial and business properties along with 600 acres of industrial and commercial land.

The Spokane Business & Industrial Park, at 3808 N. Sullivan, includes 67 buildings on 545 acres of land with a total of 4.2 million square feet of floor space.