D.R. Horton took down an additional 18-lots at Caddis Haley Estates for $360,000 ($20,000 per lot). The takedown is part of a seven takedown rolling option that involves 64-lots for the homebuilder in this southwest submarket community.

Aaron Mendenhall and Dan Feig of Chapman Lindsey of Tucson handled the transaction for buyer and seller, Caddis Bridge, LLC of Tucson.

We spoke to Aaron Mendenhall, who has tracked lot sales in the Tucson market since 2008, about what he sees in the market.

Chapman Lindsey is reporting monthly single family permits have been consistently in the 170-200 range throughout 2013, until September, when it fell to 126 permits. “September is typically the lowest permit month of third quarter however, year-to-date we are still 202 permits higher than last year at this time,” according to Aaron Mendenhall of Chapman Lindsey.

“Year to date there has been 770 new lots and another 287 could be finished in Q4, which would add over 1,000 lots for the year,” said Mendenhall. “Builders are recognizing the lack of lot supply in Tucson and are developing new lots.”

Three new communities will soon offer new homes in the southeast submarket, along the Houghton Road Corridor area, Mendenhall believes will be the next “hot spot” for housing. D.R. Horton just opened its Acacia Ridge community with 114-lots near Cienega High School. Richmond and Lennar are finishing their respective communities in Mountain Vail Estates, near Empire High School and the recently completed Esmond Station K-8 School.

“The South Houghton Corridor or Corona de Tucson area boasts amazing valley and mountain views, higher elevations, slightly cooler temperatures, and is also in the Vail School District. The area had lacked retail amenities, but with the new Houghton Town Center, that is changing,” Mendenhall told us. “The Houghton Road widening between Irvington and Valencia further enhance the accessibility and connectivity of the Central Houghton Corridor to Tucson.”

To read the full Tucson Land Update.

Mendenhall can be reached at (520) 747-4000 ext. 102 and Feig should be contacted at (520) 747-400 ext. 103, for more information.

Real Estate Daily News is sponsored by Stewart Title and Trust – The only title company named one of

“AMERICA’S MOST TRUSTWORTHY COMPANIES” in 2012 by Forbes®.

Contact Stewart Title & Trust of Tucson at (520) 327-7373 for your next closing.

Phoenix is about to get a new psychiatric hospital. Quail Run Medical Office Building at 2545 West Quail Avenue in Phoenix sold to UHS of Phoenix, LLC for $7.4 ($110 PSF). The property is a 67,324-square-foot, Class-A, four-story office / medical shell building on 5 acres. It was constructed in 2008, and has been in shell condition since original construction.

Located just north of Loop 101 off the I-17 freeway, the hospital will be in close proximity to John C. Lincoln Hospital and deer Valley Hospital. The buyer, an affiliate of Universal Health Services, Inc. of King of Prussia, PA, purchased the property to finish for a psychiatric hospital.

Universal Health Services, Inc. (UHS) is one of the nation’s largest and most respected healthcare management companies, operating through its subsidiaries, behavioral health facilities, acute care hospitals and ambulatory centers nationwide, in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. UHS was founded in 1978 by Alan B. Miller, chairman and CEO, and today has more than 65,000 employees. UHS maintains one of the strongest balance sheets and is rated amongst the highest in the hospital services industry by Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s. This strong capital position has enabled the company to develop and acquire many new facilities over the past few years.

The UHS strategy is to build or purchase healthcare properties in rapidly-growing markets and create a strong franchise based on exceptional service and effective cost control. UHS owes its success to a responsive management style and to a service philosophy that is based on integrity, competence and compassion.

The healthcare industry remains a place of rapid change and uncertainty. But with strength, experience and foresight to chart its own course, UHS has every reason to face the future with optimism.

The seller, Capital Asset Management of Phoenix (Aaron Strole, manager) had acquired the property in an REO sale from Starwood Capital.

Tim Dulaney of Colliers International in Phoenix represented the buyer in the transaction and the seller was self-represented.

For more information, Dulaney can be reached at (602) 330-4468. Capital Asset Management is at (602) 489-7990.

CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBG) announced this week that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Norland Managed Services Ltd (Norland), a leading provider of commercial building technical engineering services in the United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland, for £250 million (approximately $400 million) plus up to £50 million (approximately $80 million) of deferred contingent consideration as well as a payment for excess working capital and related items. The purchase price is payable in cash, except for £5.6 million (approximately $9 million) that is payable in CBRE common stock to Norland senior management. The acquisition will add market-leading capabilities for CBRE to self-perform building technical engineering services in its UK and European Global Corporate Services (GCS) business, providing its client base with fully-integrated outsourcing services in the region.

Norland, founded in London in 1984, provides building technical engineering services to commercial real estate owners and occupiers primarily in the UK and Ireland and also has a growing roster of customers in the United States and Singapore. Norland is particularly well known for its expertise in critical environments, such as data centers and trading floors – a growing market segment requiring specialized knowledge and experience. Its 4,000 employees in 14 offices serve more than 300 clients.

Bill Concannon, CBRE’s CEO of GCS, said: “Norland is a strong complement to our global platform. We will have the ability to self-perform building technical engineering services in Europe, as we already do for more than 850 million sq. ft. of client properties in North America, Latin America and Asia-Pacific. This transaction will significantly enhance our service offering, enable us to provide an integrated suite of outsourcing services and deepen our relationships with global and multi-national occupiers.”

“Norland significantly advances our corporate outsourcing offering in Europe,” said Mike Strong, CBRE’s CEO of EMEA (Europe, the Middle East & Africa). “The Norland team has built an exceptional reputation for managing the building technical engineering elements of occupier and investor portfolios. By combining our complementary expertise we will be able to offer clients unrivalled access to a fully-integrated, best-in-class suite of real estate services in the region.”

Following the closing of the transaction, Norland’s existing operations will operate as CBRE | Norland, reflecting the combined strengths of CBRE’s prominent global brand and Norland’s reputation for expertise in building technical engineering services. Norland serves a blue-chip roster of clients, many of which are also served by CBRE. Norland provides services on a number of CBRE-managed accounts, including Bank of America Merrill Lynch and State Street Corporation.

“Our firms fit together very well, both culturally and operationally,” said Ian Entwisle, CEO of Norland. “We know each other well, and both firms are highly focused on delivering exceptional customer service and value. By uniting our building technical engineering expertise with CBRE’s broad service offering and global reach, we foresee significant opportunities to expand our client base and accelerate our growth.”
A large near-term opportunity is to bring Norland’s services to CBRE’s client base in continental Europe, added Mr. Entwisle, who will lead the CBRE | Norland operations as CEO.

Norland reported revenue of £385 million (approximately $616 million) for its fiscal year ended April 5, 2013. Revenue has grown at a double-digit rate every year over the last ten years with revenue and profit growth over this period exceeding a 20% compound annual growth rate. Growth has come from corporations turning over the management of their real estate to the highest quality third-party specialists. Norland typically serves clients under long-term contracts. High-value integrated client services with steady year-over-year growth fits nicely within CBRE’s growth strategy.

CBRE anticipates that the transaction will be moderately accretive to its earnings immediately and expects to finance the acquisition with cash on hand and borrowings under its existing revolving credit facility. CBRE ended the third quarter of 2013 with more than $500 million of cash on its balance sheet and approximately $1.1 billion available on its revolving credit facility.

The Norland acquisition is expected to close before year end 2013 and is subject to clearance from the European Commission. BofA Merrill Lynch acted as sole financial advisor to CBRE, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP acted as CBRE’s legal advisors.

Real Estate Daily News is sponsored by Stewart Title and Trust – The only title company named one of

“AMERICA’S MOST TRUSTWORTHY COMPANIES” in 2012 by Forbes®.

Contact Stewart Title & Trust of Tucson at (520) 327-7373 for your next closing.