Framingham, Mass-based Staples, one of the country’s biggest retailers, began last March a two-year plan to close 225, or roughly 12%, of its North American stores, and downsize the remaining ones to be half the size.

In November, Staples leaving Tucson, announced its aim to close 170 stores in North America in 2014, up from a previous target of 140, and has closed or announced closure of approximately 132 stores to date. Plans are still on target to shutter 225 stores by the end of 2015, as part of a $500 million cost saving measure.

Following earlier 2014 closures in Phoenix, Casa Grande and Yuma, Tucson landlords received notice just before Christmas that all three Tucson stores would be closing and a fifth closure in Phoenix.  Staples confirmed to us the following Arizona closings for the end of February 2015:

• store #1306 at 10310 N 91st Ave., Peoria, AZ;
• store #1463 at 2930 N Campbell Ave, Tucson;
• store #1477 at 6230 E Broadway, Ste 100, Tucson;
• and store #1482 at 3840 W River Road, Marana.

Over halfway to the goal of 225 shuttered stores, and an unknown number of stores being shrunk to half size in markets such as Sierra Vista and Prescott in Arizona, the downsizing follows similar moves by other retailers.

Smaller outlets like RadioShack Corp. and big department stores like J.C. Penney Co. have had to grapple with the effect of increased online purchases and declining shopper foot traffic. The shift has hit retailers of electronics, appliances and office supplies the hardest because those items have moved online more quickly than other goods, according to data from Kantar Retail.

Smaller store formats should improve the company’s profitability, because the rent costs half as much while maintenance, wages and other expenses are reduced. Staples has also found its 12,000 square-foot stores still sell nearly as much merchandise as stores that are twice the size. The plans reflect an industry-wide consolidation for office supply chains that no longer need as much floor space to sell the electronics that schools and businesses are buying.

Office Depot Inc. earlier this year set plans to close 400 locations in the U.S., with 150 closures pegged for 2014, citing overlap created by last year’s merger with rival OfficeMax. Staples, at one time known as the nation’s largest office-supply company has nearly half of its sales now generated online.

“We continually evaluate our store performance to ensure we’re operating the business in the best way. As customers shift online, we are taking aggressive action to right-size our retail footprint. We are committed to providing great service and every product businesses need whether it’s in-store, online or through mobile,” a spokesperson for Staples told us.

Staple stores employ on average, 20 persons per store.

Alex Clark of B.D. Baker in Phoenix and Paul Godles of Excess Space Retail Services are marketing the Staples subleases and currently have 109 listed for Staples on their website at https://excessspace.com/pages.php?id=MjQ=

Nancy McClure and Michael Laatsch of CBRE in Tucson handle leasing at two of the Tucson centers: Campbell Plaza and Broadway & Wilmot. Andy Seleznov of Larsen Baker handles leasing at the Marana Marketplace at River and Orange Grove in Marana.

To learn more McClure can be reached at 520.323.5117 while Laatsch is at 520.323.5191. Seleznov can be contacted at 520.296.0200. For the excess spaces at Cochise Crossroads in Sierra Vista and Depot Marketplace in Prescott contact CBRE’s McClure at 520.323.5117, Pete Villaescusa at 520.323.5112 or Jesse Peron at 520.323.5130, for more information.

Prestige Assisted Living at 1175 S Abrego Drive in Green Valley, Arizona changed hands for $13.9 million ($178,205 per unit) in a portfolio of eight properties to Ventas, Inc. of Chicago, Ill. Prestige will continue to operate the facility under the name of Prestige Assisted Living of Green Valley.

The 39,812-square-foot Green Valley facility (built 2000) has 60 assisted care apartments and 18 memory care units situated on 5.71 acres. Surrounded by golf courses and pecan orchards. The community is conveniently located 25 miles south of Tucson and minutes away from Madera Canyon where sightings of rare Golden Eagles and Peregrine falcons are commonplace.

Amenities include a beauty salon, garden and private dining rooms for gatherings with family and friends. Scheduled transportation is also included, but it’s our events calendar full of fun activities within the community that might surprise you. From movie nights and happy hour to resident sing-alongs, we aim to help residents enjoy life and receive the personal care they need. We offer a selection of spacious studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments that feature kitchenettes with full-size refrigerators and microwave ovens, private baths with barrier-free showers, wall-to-wall carpeting, high-speed Internet and a 24-hour emergency call system. Green Valley also offers our Expressions Memory Care program for individuals with special needs caused by memory loss.

Ventas, Inc. (NYSE: VTR) an S&P 500 company, is a leading real estate investment trust. Its diverse portfolio of more than 1,500 assets in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom consists of seniors housing communities, medical office buildings, skilled nursing facilities, hospitals and other properties. Ventas provides management, leasing, marketing, facility development and advisory services to highly rated hospitals and health systems throughout the United States. More information about Ventas can be found at www.ventasreit.co

See RED Comp #2296 or login here for more information.

[mepr-show rules=”58038″] Sale date: 12/8/2014. We were unable to determine the aggregate price of the portfolio however, buyer reported that purchase price was determined based on an analysis of estimated aggregate cash flow of the total enterprise as a going concern and other factors rather than through a property by property valuation. Individual property price allocations were made base on investment and other criteria and include the real property, tangible and intangible property value. $9,115,000 of the purchase price was allocated for personal property at the facility. APN: 304-27-001X[/mepr-show]

Colony Financial, Inc. (NYSE:CLNY) has acquired the multi-tenant Tucson industrial building at 6161 S Palo Verde Road in Tucson for $7.7 million ($60 PSF) as part of a 256 asset portfolio valued at $1.6 billion. Built in 1996, the 128,941-square-foot Palo Verde building was leased to tenants such Amcor in 83,139-square-feet, and Cactus Portable Storage in 45,802-square-feet.

Cobalt Capital Partners sold its highly diversified portfolio of 256 primarily light industrial assets. The portfolio is leased to over 600 tenants and comprises over 30-million-square-feet across 16 major U.S. markets, with significant concentrations in Atlanta, Dallas and Chicago. Cobalt’s management team, led by Lewis D. Friedland, is being retained to run the day-to-day operations of the business, including acquisitions, asset and property management. The transaction is expected to be completely closed in December 2014.

Colony Financial is a real estate investment and finance company that is focused on acquiring, originating and managing a diversified portfolio of real estate-related debt and equity investments at attractive risk-adjusted returns. CLNY’s investment portfolio and target assets are primarily composed of interests in: (i) real estate and real estate-related debt, including loans acquired at a discount to par in the secondary market and new originations; and (ii) real estate equity, including single family homes held as rental investment properties. Secondary debt purchases may include performing, sub-performing or non-performing loans (including loan-to-own strategies). CLNY has elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust, or REIT, for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

Colony Financial arranged financing for the acquisitions from GE Capital Real Estate equal to approximately 70% of purchase price, with the balance of initial capital funded through equity. The portfolio is expected to achieve a stabilized unlevered net operating income yield of approximately 7% and produce an initial annualized return-on-equity of approximately 10%.

Thomas J. Barrack, Jr., Executive Chairman of Colony Financial, said, “Cobalt is a highly coveted portfolio of strategically located assets, in high growth markets, well positioned to benefit from a strengthening economy in the next phase of the business cycle. Moreover, it features strong rental rates and a well-diversified tenant base, underscored by low capital requirements. The leadership brought by Lew Friedland perfectly complements our company’s own institutional-quality asset and portfolio management, which has long excelled in the industrial sector through value-added investing. We believe this portfolio will generate very attractive risk-adjusted returns which we will seek to aggressively enhance through additional acquisitions.

“This is an important step for us,” Barrack continued. “We have consistently signaled that Colony Financial can achieve additional growth and diversification by launching focused platforms that will grow foundational returns and pursue expansion through bolt-on acquisitions. A market leading presence in the light industrial space is one important manifestation of this strategy.”

Colony Financial CEO Richard Saltzman said, “As the U.S. economy continues to improve and accelerate, we believe investing in equity platforms with embedded growth opportunities is one of the best uses of our capital. Furthermore, we expect the capitalization for this acquisition will ultimately include substantial third party co-investment capital and is an excellent example of how Colony Financial can benefit under its contemplated new structure as recently announced on November 4th.”

Lew Friedland, Cobalt’s founder and Managing Partner, added, “Our entire team is excited to join Colony, one of the industry’s premier real estate companies, during this historic period of its evolution. Over the last ten years, we’ve grown Cobalt, along with our partner USAA Real Estate Company, into a leader in the industrial property market, and we now look forward to expanding our business as part of the Colony family.”

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP served as legal advisor to Colony Financial, Inc.