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Daily News for Commercial Real Estate & Business – January 2, 2012

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Let’s make 2012 a great one!

Here are the news articles you might find interesting today for commercial real estate and business:

80-Unit Multifamily Sells in Mesa A private investor operating as Valleywide Apartments LLC has acquired the 80-unit 454 West Apartments located at 454 W. Brown Rd. in Mesa, AZ for $3 million, or $37,500 per unit, from Royal Bank of Canada in an REO sale. The property was constructed in 1972 in the Mesa East submarket of Maricopa County. The multifamily building is comprised of two-bedroom units that rent for $649 a month. View article…

US Foods Leases 133,225 SF in Tempe US Foods signed a 12-year lease for the entire 133,225 square feet at the River Corporate Center at 8075 S. River Pky. in Tempe, AZ. The two-story office building was built in 1998 on 12.4 acres in the ASU Research Park. View article…

Phoenix Industrial Marked by High Absorption As one of the ground zeros of the subprime housing implosion, Phoenix commercial real estate has also struggled for the past handful of years. But one bright-spot sector in 2011 was industrial, and experts tell Globest.com that the sector will continue to shine in 2012. Different reports put area-wide absorption for the year at between 4.5 million square feet and 6.3 million square feet. View article…

Sears lists store closures, none in AZ After announcing it will close between 100 and 120 Sears and Kmart stores, the company has released a list of the first locations to be closed, according to The Wall Street Journal. The list includes 79 of the planned store closures, including some Sears outlets and Kmart stores, according to the article published Thursday. The list does not include any stores in Arizona. View article…

Scottsdale council seeks to amend SkySong’s ground lease The Scottsdale City Council will look at amending its ground-lease agreement with the Arizona State University Foundation to allow the city to begin receiving a share of lease payments for SkySong, ASU’s Scottsdale Innovation Center. The city has invested $81.4 million for property acquisition and infrastructural improvements for the complex, at the southeastern corner of McDowell and Scottsdale roads. In return for a 99-year ground lease, the foundation agreed to build 1.2 million square feet of office space in phases and share with the city 50 percent of the profit from operating the facilities. View article…

SkySong ready to expand in Scottsdale The new year brings the start of construction on two major developments at SkySong, the Arizona State University Scottsdale Innovation Center. Pre-leasing has begun on a third office building at the 42-acre, mixed-use development at the southeastern corner of Scottsdale and McDowell roads. Two 150,000-square-foot office buildings house research and commercial space. There is a “strong likelihood” that work will begin on the third building in the first quarter, said Rick Shangraw, the ASU Foundation’s CEO. Plaza Cos. is the developer in partnership with the foundation and USAA Real Estate Co. View article…

Bashas’ closing Phoenix location Bashas’ supermarket at 16th Street and Glendale Avenue in Phoenix is scheduled to close Jan. 14, and the vacant store eventually will reopen as a Sunflower Farmers Market natural grocery store. Bashas’ spokeswoman Kristy Jozwiak said the lease was up at the 7-year-old Glendale Avenue location and that the company was unable to negotiate a favorable extension with the landlord. She said Bashas’ does not contemplate closing any other stores at this time. View article…

Wyndham Phoenix Hotel is now a Marriott A Phoenix hotel owner who years ago fought a city-backed effort to open a Marriott hotel in downtown has turned the Wyndham Phoenix Hotel into a Marriott Renaissance with help from the city. Steve Cohn, majority owner of the Wyndham, launched an effort nearly five years ago to make the 520-room Wyndham at 50 E. Adams St., once a Crowne Plaza Hotel, a Renaissance hotel to draw bigger convention groups and increase profits. View article…

Gilbert master plan to focus on intersection projects, needs Gilbert will pay up to $100,000 for an intersection master plan that will help town officials prioritize construction projects and plan for future needs. The master plan will evaluate the current operation and safety of the town’s intersections while projecting the impact of growth over the next 20 years, Town Engineer Mike Gillespie said. Officials expect to finish the plan by July. The plan will use criteria such as collision data and computer traffic models in evaluating Gilbert’s intersections, Gillespie said. View article…

NHL realignment sparks more talk of Phoenix Coyotes moving to Canada We couldn’t end 2011 without one last conspiracy theory out of Canada regarding the future of the Phoenix Coyotes. The Hockey News’ latest print edition notes that in the National Hockey League’s proposed realignment, the Coyotes are in “Conference A” along with other West Coast teams. THN also notes that the two Eastern conferences in the planned realignment have seven teams, which could be so the Coyotes could join “Conference C” if they end up moving to eastern Canada. View article…

SAMPLE OPPORTUNITIES:
Bella Vista Retail Center – 10.5% Cap Rate!
Investment, multi-tenant retail center. For a brochure, click here…

5051 & 5057 E Thomas Road – Former Dentist Office and Former Real Estate Office For Sale. For a brochure, click here…

Kokopelli Springs in St. David, AZ – Investment, 56 unit mobile home park. For a brochure, click here…

7320 N Dreamy Draw – Freestanding Office Building in Squaw Peak Corridor-great owner/user opportunity. For a brochure, click here…

Feel free to contact me regarding any of these stories, the current market, distressed commercial real estate opportunities or your property.