Tucson, AZ – Las Plazas at Old Vail, a 17-acre retail development at the northwest corner of Houghton and Old Vail Roads in Southeast Tucson, has landed its first wave of restaurant users. CBRE recently completed the sale of the first three lots and the development will soon be home to a Taco Bell, Native Grill and Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers.

Nancy McClure and Michael Laatsch with CBRE’s Tucson office negotiated the transactions on behalf of the seller, OVP Development Company, LLC. Taco Bell was purchased as a corporate store, but was then sold to a franchisee with the rest of the corporate Taco Bells in the Tucson market. The company purchased Lot 8 and was represented by Terry Dahlstrom of Volk Company. Native Grill, which will operate as a franchise, bought Lot 7 and was represented by James Neal with Hinkson Company. Freddy’s Steakburger, also a franchise operation, has purchased Lot 6 and was represented by John Hamner with Keller Williams.

“The purchase of the first three lots at Las Plazas at Old Vail confirms there is significant pent-up demand for retail and restaurant options in this underserved area. The surrounding neighborhood residents have expressed a desire for these additional options and users have taken notice,” said McClure. “This is a high-density residential area and is well equipped to handle additional retail amenities and these transactions are just the tip of the iceberg.”

Site work at the project in the form of underground utilities, grading, retention/detention, common drive aisles, landscaping, curbs and parking lot lighting began last spring and was recently competed. All three buyers are slated to begin construction soon and are projected to be open by year’s end.

Las Plazas at Old Vail is divided into fifteen lots ranging in buildable areas from 3,000 to 19,000 square feet. Las Plazas at Old Vail is designed to accommodate retail, office and industrial users. The remaining available lots are for sale to users and developers who want to provide build-to-suits to tenants. The site is approximately a mile and a half from the I-10 freeway, just south of the Rita Ranch master-planned community.

To learn more contact Nancy McClure and Michael Laatsch at 520.323.5100. John Hamner is at 520.623.0000 and Terry Dahlstrom can be reached at 520.326.3200.

See also RED Comp #3210 for additional information.

Tucson housing lot sales rose in July, as home sales were up 25% over last year, and sales volume increased by over 28% from 2014. At mid-year, there were reported 14 land transactions totaling over $26 million. In July, there were  11 land transactions totaling $11.6 million, 728 platted SFR and condominium lots, nine finished SFR lots and five new infill or smaller subdivision projects coming onboard.

In addition to these sales, as previously reported this month, Sunbelt Holdings’acquisition of 401 platted lots at Sycamore Canyon II (click here for full story) and 195 platted lots sold to Meritage Homes in Tucson’s first Master Plan Community in fifteen years, La Estancia, at Wilmot and I-10 in the Southeast submarket. (click here for full story)

NORTHWEST SUBMARKET
Maracay Homes took down six more lots at Tortolita Vistas for $1,018,645 ($169,774 per lot). Located just north of Tangerine Road on Thornydale Road, the Tortolita Vistas community is set in the foothills of the Tortolita mountain range and surrounded by stunning views. These over-sized one acre home sites feature lush desert open space. Maracay entered into an agreement with Ready Eight Corporation of Tucson (David Mehl, manager) for a total of 54-lots in this community that started October 2013. Will White and John Carroll with Tucson’s Land Advisors Organization represented Maracay. See RED Comp #3088 for additional information.

NORTHEAST SUBMARKET
Territory at Santa Catalina and Ranches at Santa Catalina, two recorded subdivision with an aggregate of 34 platted lots sold for $2.6 million ($76,470 per lot) to Maracay Homes. The ten half-acre lots are in Territory at Santa Catalina and the other 24 quarter-acre lots is known as Ranches at Santa Catalina. The buyer handled the entitlements and closed at final plat acceptance. The seller was J. DeGrazia Company of Tucson. Maracay plans to develop the lots for construction of 34 SFRs. There were no brokers involved, see RED Comp #3164 and #3167 for more information.

CENTRAL SUBMARKET
Stone Crossing a 28-lot recorded Condominium site in Central Tucson sold for $672,000 ($24,000 per lot). The buyer, Dr. Horton Inc., purchased the 28 condo lots in a 40 lot larger subdivision located southeast of Limberlost Dr. & Thurston Ln. HSL Stone Crossing LLC, an affiliate of HSL Properties of Tucson was the seller. There will be two different lot sizes to accommodate two distinct condo units, all units are designed to be two stories. There are 15 large lots available which are approximately 1,317-square-feet in size (ground floor) and 13 smaller lots which are approximately 1,032-square-feet in size (ground floor). Both buyer and seller were represented by Ben Becker and Adam Becker with CBRE’s Tucson office. See RED Comp #3095 for additional information.

Limberlost Estates a recorded infill for 10 platted lot subdivision sold for $348,000 ($34,800 per lot) to Barrio Partners (Daniel Campa, Sr. and Randel W Jacob, managers). Property is adjacent to LA Fitness and Sprouts Natural Foods and minutes away from the UA, Tucson Mall, the River Walk & the Foothills. Jade Bossert with Tierra Antigua Realty represented the seller, Antony Tsang of Tucson and Ana Canizales with HomeSmart Advantage Group represented the buyer. See RED Comp #3113 for additional information.

EASTERN SUBMARKET
A portion of All Faith Memorial Park sold to Tucson Land and Cattle Company of Tucson (Jim Campbell, manager) for $490,000 for 19 acres of vacant unimproved land at 2151 Avenida Los Reyes in Tucson, near Old Spanish Trail east of Houghton Road. The property was excess land to the Diocese of Tucson Catholic Cemeteries and purchased to jointly develop, after zoning and entitlements, a 25-SFR lot infill project. There were no brokers involved, see RED Comp #3136 for additional information.

Camino Seco Village a recorded 35-SFR lot subdivision at 22^nd Street and Camino Seco sold to R.B. Price & Company of Tucson (Rick Price, manager) for $200,000 ($5,714 per lot). The 5.89 acres was entitled in 2008 and sold in an REO sale by the Alliance Bank of Arizona and the Bank of Nevada. Buyer purchased to finish development. See RED Comp #3175 for additional information.

Seattle-based Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE: JWN) announced Thursday plans to open Nordstrom Rack at Wilmot Plaza in Tucson, Arizona. The approximately 25,000-square-foot store is scheduled to open in spring 2016. The property is owned by BP Wilmot Plaza LLC, an affiliate of Bourn Companies LLC, a commercial real estate investment, development and services company based in Tucson, Arizona.

Nordstrom Rack will be joining fellow anchors TJ Maxx and Dick’s Sporting Goods in the redeveloped Wilmot Plaza shopping center, located at the northeast corner of Broadway Boulevard and Wilmot Road, near Park Place Mall. Wilmot Plaza will encompass approximately 140,000-square-feet of retail space when the 10-acre shopping center is fully redeveloped.

“We’re excited to offer our customers in Tucson another location to shop for the brands they love at great prices by adding a second Nordstrom Rack at Wilmot Plaza,” said Geevy Thomas, president of Nordstrom Rack. “We’re hopeful this will give new and existing customers a more convenient shopping experience.”

The new store will be the seventh Nordstrom Rack in Arizona, and the second in Tucson, joining Nordstrom Rack at The Corner which opened in 2011. Nordstrom also operates two full-line stores in Arizona, and began serving customers in 1998 at Fashion Square in Scottsdale.

Since its origination in 1990, Bourn Companies and its predecessors have completed over 4 million-square-feet of acquisitions and developments, specializing in corporate office buildings, retail shopping centers and unique multi-family residential and hospitality properties.

“We are thrilled to once again to be working with Nordstrom to bring a Rack store to Wilmot Plaza to serve the east half of the market and southern Arizona,” said Don Bourn, principal of Bourn Companies, LLC.

In a separate transaction, Bourn Companies through affiliate, BP Grant PAD Investors LLC, bought a 31,748-square-foot retail pad at 6572 E Grant Road in Tucson from Target Corporation for $640,000 ($20.16 PSF). The property is located at Grant and Tanque Verde and was excess land for Target. Bourn purchased it to pre-lease for either a single tenant built-to-suit ranging from 2,500 to 7,500-square-feet, or possibly a multi-tenant building up to a 7,500-square-foot footprint.

Alan Tanner and Brigham Stevens with Bourn Advisory Services in Tucson are handling the leasing for both properties and should be reached at 520.323.1005.

For additional information on these transactions, see RED Comp #1136 and RED Comp #3148.