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Daily News for Commercial Real Estate & Business – September 25, 2012

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

Whitestone REIT buys Fountain Square in Phoenix for $15.4M Whitestone REIT (NYSE: WSR) has added another Arizona property to its portfolio with the recent $15.4 million cash purchase of a roughly 118,000-square-foot neighborhood shopping center in north Phoenix. Fountain Square rests on the northwest corner of Bell Road and Seventh Street and is anchored by Safeway, McDonalds and Sleep America. View article…

Scottsdale Office Sells for $1.1M A private investor acquired the Scottsdale Old Town Plaza Building at 7281 E. Earl Dr. in Scottsdale, AZ from Diversified Asset Management for $1.1 million, or about $174 per square foot. The single-story, 6,328-square-foot office building was built in 2001 in the Scottsdale South submarket. It was 100 percent leased at the time of sale. View article…

Broadway Plaza Tempe Sells for $1.9M A private investor acquired the Broadway Plaza Tempe for $1.9 million, or approximately $147 per square foot. Located at 1740 E. Broadway Rd. in Tempe, AZ, the 12,961-square-foot retail building was constructed in 2007 and was 64 percent leased at the time of sale. Tenants include Dunkin Doughnuts, First Cup Broadway, McClintock Engineers, Deli Fresh and Liberty Tax Service. View article…

La Mesita deal nears City Council approval A historic proposal to build Mesa’s first rail-oriented residential development is coming to the City Council for final approval Monday night. A quick thumbs-up is expected for two agreements paving the way for low-income apartments at the La Mesita Family Shelter, 2254 W. Main St. View article…

Planned rail yard near Picacho Peak gains steam The Arizona State Land Department cleared the path Monday for a land sale that could bring a massive rail yard to farmland near Picacho Peak. Union Pacific Corp. is seeking to build a yard 6 miles long and 74 tracks wide, the biggest yard between Los Angeles and Texas. The plan stalled because of the bad economy but in recent months the freight giant renewed its interest and state and county politicians have gotten behind the proposal. View article…

Annexation near Loop 303 on radar for Glendale Glendale and landowners’ vision for annexing land near Loop 303, which was a hot topic in the boom but fell off the radar in the recession, is bubbling up again. A plan should soon go before the City Council for review. A group of landowners and city staff are working on a proposal to bring water and sewer infrastructure to the area, which the city strip-annexed decades ago, without financially burdening current residents. View article…

Arizona’s state universities set enrollment records All three state universities in Arizona are reporting record enrollment this fall. Arizona State, the largest, has 73,373 students, according to preliminary fall-enrollment figures that were recently released. The University of Arizona exceeded 40,000 students this fall for the first time. View article…

Phoenix New Times founders selling company The Valley men who founded the weekly alternative newspaper Phoenix New Times and parlayed it into a national media chain are selling all 13 of their publications and leaving journalism. Village Voice Media owners Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin announced Sunday night that they have agreed to sell their company, which owns alternative weeklies from Los Angeles to New York City, to a newly created company owned by a group of the papers’ editors and publishers. View article…

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