TUCSON, ARIZONA – DSW Wilmot Plaza LP, an Arizona based investment group, has acquired Wilmot Plaza shopping center.  The group’s managing director Michael Sarabia along with partner James Hardman (DESCO Southwest) believe strongly in the fundamentals of the 139,000-square-foot multi-building “trophy” asset.

Wilmot Plaza was purchased for $47.3 Million ($340 PSF) from BP Wilmot Plaza, a Bourn Companies destination retail development. Bourn fully redeveloped the center with an all-star tenant line up including:  TJ Maxx, Dicks Sporting Goods, Nordstrom Rack, Payless Shoes and AT&T.

The substantial visibility from both Broadway and Wilmot roads, access to the major arterial intersection, and close proximity to Park Mall (General Growth Properties) benefit the center.  Wilmot Plaza offers a diverse shopping experience including off-price retailers, sporting goods and signature fast casual dining. The center has a long history of being a landmark retail center in the central-east corridor.

Toufic Abi-Aad (CFO Bourn Companies) handled the disposition for the seller, and Michael Sarabia and James Hardman (DESCO Southwest) represented DSW Wilmot Plaza LP. Tim Storey with Newmark Capital in Phoenix assisted with financing for the acquisition.

The acquisition reflects DSW’s continued investment strategy in the Arizona marketplace where Michael Sarabia, managing member of DSW Wilmot Plaza LP, has been an active participant for the past 16 years.  Sarabia states, “When looking at submarkets we take into consideration several mitigating factors such as household income, growing population, quality of building, tenant mix, term of leases and strategic location of asset.  Don Bourn and his team have been able to source high profile sites and develop signature projects in irreplaceable locations, we are pleased to be able to work with them on this acquisition.”

The acquisition is part of DSW’s continued investment strategy in the Arizona region, a market where they own/manage over 500,000-square-feet of retail and office.

For more information, Sarabia and Hardman should be reached at 520.297.8929 and Abi-Aad can be contacted at 520.323.1005. Storey can be called at 602.374.7854.

To learn more, see RED Comp #4163.

Sam Hauert and his sons, David and Steve closed the Grant Road Lumber business last August after 66 years and held a last lighting ceremony with family and friends of the iconic Grant Road Lumber sign at 2543 E Gran Road in Tucson before the sale of property closed on September 1^st.

Sam Fox, through affiliate company, Common Bond Development Group (Brian Frakes, manager) purchased the property for $1.325 million ($14.50 PSF) for land value of the 2.1-acre parcel located at Grant Road and Tucson Blvd.

Fox plans to transform the former Grant Road Lumber facility into The Yard in Tucson. “We have a vision that that whole area gets repurposed, and we hope we can be the genesis to jump-start that,” said Fox, who will incorporate the salvaged bricks and boards from the original structures into the new construction. “We like to find old buildings that have soul and character and repurpose them.”

Dean Cotlow of Cotlow Company represented the Hauerts in the transaction. “This will be one of the biggest and most significant redevelopment projects underway in Tucson,” said Cotlow. “The Grant Road Lumber Sign and some of the building walls are to stay in place.”

It will certainly be Fox’s biggest and most ambitious Tucson venture in the 18 years since he launched his restaurant career with upscale Wildflower on North Oracle Road in 1998. This will also be his first new concept here since 2007, when he opened Blanco Tacos and ZinBurger.

The restaurant at the center of the sprawling 19,000-square-foot Yard in Tucson complex will include a covered “yard” with couches, fireplaces, corn hole games, foosball tables and other backyard-style activities. A 150-seat dining room called The Coop, where Fox said they will hold private parties, weddings and corporate events, rounds out the project.

The concept is to be similar to The Yard in Tempe at the Farmer Arts District that opened in 2014. The Arizona Republic at the time called that the biggest project Fox had ever done. The Tucson concept will cost less than the $11 million Fox spent building the second Yard in Tempe.

Fox anticipates starting construction immediately for a September 2017 opening of The Yard in Tucson.

Trevor Cohen represented the buyer, Common Bond Development Group, also doing the work, an affiliate company with Fox and fellow Tucson native Brian Frakes.

For more information, Cotlow can be reached at 520.881.8180 and Cohen can be contacted at 602.803.1160.

The Pima County Board of Supervisors approved the acquisition of the 276-acres known as the Frick property (William B. Frick & Christine F. Glass)  along with accepting a donation of a 65-acre property from Martha C. Hawes, both properties located along West 36^th Street, south of the Starr Pass Resort development, along the eastern boundary of Tucson Mountain Park (see map below).

Starr Pass Resort revenues will be used for the Frick land acquisition, a $2.075 million ($7,518 per acre) purchase plus $10,000 in closing costs. The 65-acre donation by Hawes, shown in purple on the map, is valued at $1.086 million. The donation is conditioned upon the County having granted Hawes a Life Estate, permitting Ms. Hawes to continue to reside there for the remainder of her natural life.

Since 2004, 17 different land owners have donated to Pima County’s Conservation Lands system, a total of over 2,000 acres valued at over $12 million dollars.

Both properties will be managed as part of the Tucson Mountain Park and the informal trails that exist across the property becoming a more sustainable trail system that connects to the Park trail system.

According to the County Administrator, Chuck Huckleberry, public benefits to the expansion of Tucson Mountain Park will include protection of scenic views, expansion of the recreation area, conserving a segment of Enchanted Hills Wash, and mitigating for public works projects under the Section 10 permit and newly approved Multi-Species Conservation Plan. The property falls within the Multiple Use Conservation Lands System and includes a Riparian Area.

The Starr Pass Environmental Enhancement Fund will be used to pay for the Frick acquisition. In 1988, the County entered into a development agreement with Star Pass Resort for the development of the JW Marriott Star Pass Resort, built along the eastern boundary of Tucson Mountain Park. As part of the agreement, the resort donated over 200-acres to the County to expand the Park, provide trail access, and also entered into a revenue sharing agreement whereby the resort remits to the County an Environment Enhancement Fee equal to 2% of room charges and other purchases by the guests and users of the property for a period of 20 years. Collections started in 2005 and now in year 11, the County has received $3.6 million and project revenues of $790,000 for this fiscal year.

The Fisk property was identified by the County as eligible to purchase with 2004 bond funds, however at that time, the owner had expectations of selling it at a considerably higher price, having been offered $4.14 million by a homebuilder with a conceptual plan for 366 homesites on portions of the property. That deal was terminated during the due diligence period when improvement costs of the hilly terrain did not meet expectations of the developer.

The County’s appraisal valued the 276 acres at 1.6 million while the seller’s independent appraisal valued the property at $2.55 million. The purchase price was arrived at by negotiation between the parties that resulted in a price midway between the two appraisals. With $375,000 down, the seller agreed to carryback a note at zero interest in order to facilitate the County’s purchase.

The Starr Pass Environmental Enhancement Fund is to be spent on expanding and enhancing Tucson Mountain Park, with priority given to acquisitions that conserve important natural areas between the Park and the Santa Cruz River. It was these revenues that helped the County also acquire the Sweetwater Canyon a 187 acre expansion of the Sweetwater Preserve in the eastern foothills of the Tucson Mountains.

Jim Marian of Chapman Lindsey Commercial Real Estate Services in Tucson represented the Frick family in the transaction.

For additional information, Marian should be reached at 520.747.4000 ext. #106.

To learn more see RED Comp #4137.