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Daily News for Commercial Real Estate & Business – March 23, 2012

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

To view the 1Q12 Investment Trends Quarterly report by RERC, click here…

PRESSON ADDS TO VALLEY INVENTORY . . . PICKS UP OFFICE-RETAIL PROJECT IN TEMPE Tempe City Center Limited Partnership, formed by investor Daryl Burton of Presson Corp. in Phoenix, paid $9 million ($55.46 per foot) to buy the Tempe City Center office-retail project at 1400-1470 E. Southern Avenue in Tempe. The seller of the 162,274-square-foot complex was the registered holders of GMAC Commercial Mortgage Securities Inc. Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates Series 2002-C1. View article…

INVESTOR DROPS $9+ MILLION FOR MESA LAND TO BE HELD LONG TERM A German-based investment firm, with offices in San Diego, Calif. and Chicago, Ill., paid just over $9.015 million to acquire 309 acres of land located just southeast of the Williams Gateway Airport in Mesa. The seller was Enterprise Bank & Trust. View article…

Westport Capital Acquires Camelback Arboleda Westport Capital Partners LLC acquired Camelback Arboleda, a 179,751-square-foot multi-tenant office building at 16th Street and Camelback Road in the Camelback Corridor. El Segundo, CA-based Westport Capital, a real estate investment firm specializing in distressed and opportunistic real estate assets, bought the property built in 1983, which is 81% occupied by tenants that include Stanley Consultants, Telesoft Corp. and a Starbucks administrative office. View article…

CBRE Completes Sale of Sedona-Area Retail Center CBRE has completed the sale of Tequa Festival Marketplace, a 54,068-square-foot specialty retail center located at 7000 Highway 179 in the Village of Oak Creek, Ariz. Bob Young, Glenn Smigiel, Steve Brabant and Rick Abraham of CBRE’s Phoenix office represented the seller, GCCFC 2006-FF7 Tequa Festival of Miami Beach, Fla., which acquired the property through foreclosure. The buyer, Tequa Marketplace Baceline LLC of Denver, Colo., purchased the asset for $4.08 million. Built in 1999, Tequa Festival Marketplace was 34 percent leased at the time of sale. View article…

Longtime pool builder opens design center in SE Valley As it celebrates 24 years in business, California Pools & Landscape is unveiling a new way to spotlight its work. On Saturday, the company will celebrate the grand opening of its Pool and Landscape Design Center at 4320 W. Chandler Blvd., Chandler. Open daily, the 10,000-square-foot building offers five large LED screens for 3D design and displays by companies such as Pebble Tec and Hayward Pool Products, pool and backyard vignettes and informational kiosks to assist homeowners building or remodeling a pool or planning a back yard. View article…

Scottsdale Oregano’s relocating to former Sugar Daddy’s site or the past 19 years, downtown Scottsdale has been home to the original Oregano’s Pizza Bistro location, which has a loyal following, does brisk business and includes very little customer parking. That will be changing when the restaurant, currently at 3622 N. Scottsdale Road, relocates about 600 yards south to 3102 N. Scottsdale Road, the former home of Sugar Daddy’s, which closed in May 2009. View article…

OptumRx planning 400 new jobs in Tucson OptumRx, a division of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), is opening a customer service facility in Tucson and plans to create 400 jobs by the end of 2013. The nation’s fourth largest pharmacy benefits manager provides a range of pharmacy services designed to reduce health care costs and improve health. View article…

Safelite puts halt on expansion plan Safelite AutoGlass has halted an expansion of its large call center in Chandler because of proposed legislation that the company sees as a threat. “We have all the blueprints and an agreement from the landlord to move forward. … Everybody is in limbo,” said Brian O’Mara, Safelite’s vice president for national contact center operations. View article…

Initial Unemployment Claims Drop to Four Year Low First time claims for unemployment insurance fell 5,000 to 348,000, a four-year low in the week ended March 17 and the second straight weekly decline, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Data for the prior week was revised upward, to 353,000 from 351,000, making the decline larger. The last time initial claims fell below 350,000 was in April 2008. View article…

Cap Rate vs IRR vs Cash on Cash vs ??? Over the years, my experience in working with investors from different walks of life, has always fascinated me when it comes to what is their ultimate go or no-go decision when looking at investment real estate. Some clients only look at the cap rate. View article…

Local Real Estate Professional (Nick Miner, CCIM) Discusses Marketing Nicholas L. Miner, CCIM, vice president-investments of Commercial Properties, was quoted in the March/April issue of Commercial Investment Real Estate, the magazine of the CCIM Institute. Please read his comments in “Marketing for Today’s Market,” which is available in the PDF file accompanying this release. View article…

CURRENT FOR SALE OPPORTUNITIES:
Bella Vista Retail Center – Investment, multi-tenant retail center. For a brochure, click here…

+/- 43,000 SF Leased Industrial Building in Southern Gardens – Single Tenant Investment opportunity. For more information, click here…

Former TDC Corp HQ – 6515 S Rural Road, Tempe, AZ – Former Corporate HQ for TDC in Tempe, AZ For Sale. For more information, click here…

5051 & 5057 E Thomas Road – Former Dentist Office and Former Real Estate Office For Sale/Lease. 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…

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

2 Acres of Land – Owner/User opportunity to purchase 2 acres of land off of I-10 & 40th Street. For a brochure, click here…

3.64 Acres of Land – Infill Development opportunity in Surprise. 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.