Tucson, AZ –  The marketing assignment for several major land parcels owned by the City of Tucson which have been declared surplus by Mayor and Council has been awarded. The first three parcels, located at the northeast, southeast and southwest corners of the new Kino Parkway Overpass and 22nd Street intersection, were brought to market this week. Ian Stuart, Ben Becker and Adam Becker with CBRE’s Tucson office will handle the marketing assignment for the City.

CBRE was retained by the City in March of 2012 to identify and categorize its inventory of surplus properties. That task is now complete and CBRE has been engaged to market those parcels categorized as “major sites.” The city has retained Tierra Right of Way to help dispose of other, smaller lots.

“The City of Tucson owns some highly desirable land parcels within its city limits and we believe the timing is good to bring them to market in this improving economy,” said CBRE’s Ian Stuart, vice president, brokerage services “The citizens stand to benefit when these properties are returned to the tax rolls and developed to their highest and best use.”

“The City of Tucson Real Estate Program is excited to be working with the professional team at CBRE to assist in the sale of some of the City’s more prominent surplus parcels,” said Hector Martinez, Director of the City’s Real Estate Program. “The 22nd Street and Kino Boulevard parcels will be our first test at implementing an efficient, nation-wide marketing program that hopes to identify significant developers that can bring new development opportunities to Tucson.”

The first three parcels, totaling just over 10 acres, were acquired for the Kino Overpass project and will be surplus when the project is completed later this year. The three sites are all zoned predominantly medium density residential and are just east of the highly successful Retreat student housing complex which was fully leased prior to opening. However, given the visibility and proximity of the sites to traffic on the new interchange, the City has indicated a willingness to entertain rezoning for certain commercial uses. Each parcel has been appraised individually and prospective buyers may offer to purchase one, two or all three parcels.

Minimum bids are as follows: Southeast corner $940,000, Southwest corner $300,000 and Northeast corner is $175,000.  For additional information, go to www.cbre.com/tucsonland

First Washington Realty, Inc., through its Global Retail Investors, LLC joint venture, purchased River Center at River and Craycroft in Tucson for $24.8 million ($212 PSF). The 117,000-square-foot retail center had been owned and operated by Larsen Baker, LLC of Tucson for 14-years and was 100% leased at time of sale.

The four-anchor center (built 1986) includes PetCo, Whole Foods, Pima County Library, and Walgreen’s on a separate pad (not part of sale). There are also five restaurants, offices and a Pilates studio.

First Washington is currently a partner with California Public Employees’ Retirement System (“CalPERS”), the largest public pension fund in the United States, in a venture called Global Retail Investors, LLC, an investment entity that owns and operates approximately 90 retail property investments nationwide.

Global Retail also owns Lincoln Village at 6200-6300 North Scottsdale Road in Scottsdale, AZ, however this is its first venture into the Tucson market. First Washington is a privately owned real estate investment, advisory and management company which specializes in the acquisition, ownership, financing, and management of neighborhood and community shopping centers located in densely populated areas throughout the United States. The Company endeavors to make sound, long-term investments for its own account and on behalf of its joint venture partners such as Global Retail Investors, in what it believes to be well-located, intrinsically valuable, income producing real estate.

First Washington is wholly owned by its principals, who have specialized in the ownership and operation of shopping center portfolios for over 30 years. The Company employs the same individuals as senior executives who were instrumental in the formation and operation of First Washington Realty Trust, Inc., a publicly-held real estate investment trust which traded on the New York Stock Exchange until February 2001, at which time its portfolio was sold.

Andy Seleznov, CCIM and Melissa Lal, CCIM of Larsen Baker in Tucson represented the seller, Larsen Baker. Patrick Dempsey and Jan Fincham of Lee & Associates in Phoenix represented the buyer.

Seleznov and Lal should be contacted at (520) 296-0200. Dempsey can be reached at (602) 954-3772 and Fincham is at (602) 954-3754 for more information

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[mepr-show rules=”58038″]Sale date: 1/9/2014. Sold in two transactions, the sale price shown in the combined total of $23,485,000 and $1,290,000, for a total sale price of $24,775,000. The $1.29 million portion was the downleg in a 1031 exchange for seller. APNs: 109-22-134L, 134N, and 134S. The property sold with a 5.85% cap.[/mepr-show]

Tucson Association of Realtors (TAR) released stats for Year-End 2013. Year-over-year unit sales, volume, median and average sales price as well as active listings were all slightly up over 2012. The latest Tucson Association of REALTORS® Multiple Listing Service (TARMLS) report includes both year-to-year (2013 over 2012) and month-to-month (December over November 2013) statistics.

Here’s what the TAR’s Residential Sales Report reveals:

Home unit sales increased by roughly 3.7 percent (13,943) vs. a year ago (13,448) units changing hands in the Tucson area. In December unit sales of 1,038 vs. 933 homes sold in November 2013, an increase of 11 per cent. While total sales volume of $2.1 million was 17.39 percent higher than November’s $1.79 million, an increase of 14 percent over 2012.

Observers saw the 1,038 home closings reported for December decreased in median sales price, after increasing for three months in a row, sale prices decreased in December to a median price of $157,900, a 1 percent decrease from November ($159,500) and a 7.05 percent increase over median sale price for a single family home in December 2012 ($147,500).

The average sales price of $197,064 was 8.5 percent higher than a year ago, that of $181,684 in December 2012.

At the end of December, overall inventory of residential properties decreased to a 4.8 months average in the Tucson area. There were 5,150 properties available, up 15.75 percent vs. a year ago, and a decrease of 2.57 percent from November.

On average, residential properties spent 54 days on the market in December, a week longer than September 2013 which was 47 days, the shortest market time since before 2009. Year over year, there were 5,150 active listing, 15.8 percent higher than at year end 2012, good for buyers but not so good for sellers. With 1,506 sales pending at the end of 2013, pending sales were down 25.52 percent from a year ago.

Conventional loan sales accounted for 36 percent of the all sales in December, continuing to exceed cash sales of 32 percent; while FHA and VA loans combined accounted for 28.23 percent according to TAR’s tracking.

Tucson housing has always been less volatile than the Phoenix area housing, without the extreme highs or the extreme lows.

Please refer to full December sales report for graphs and additional information at https://tucsonrealtors.org/tar-v2/statsDec2013.pdf

Tucson Rental Statistics can be found here: https://tucsonrealtors.org/tar-v2/statsRentDec2013.pdf