NAFRI Building Tucson Sells for $4.625 Million in Net Lease Sale

Boyd Tucson III GSA of Chicago purchased the building occupied by National Advanced Fire & Resource Institute (NAFRI) for $4.625 million ($188 PSF). The 24,622-square-foot building is at 3265 East Universal Way in Tucson sits on a 2.5-acre lot in Airport Commerce Center.

The property, was a build-to-suit for NAFRI in 2004, is located less than a mile from Interstate 10, the southernmost major highway in the US. NAFRI originally signed a 10-year lease but in 2007, reached out to the landlord to extend through 2022. NAFRI is committed to the site long term and will be at this location well past their lease expiration date.

The National Advanced Fire and Resource Institute (NAFRI) was originally established as the National Fire Training Center at the Marana Air Park (now Pinal Air Park) in February 1967.  It was created by the Washington Office, US Forest Service Fire and Aviation, to plan, develop and deliver the annual national fire management training program.  In 1980 the name was changed to National Advanced Resource Technology Center (NARTC) to reflect the addition of non-fire management curriculum.  The training center operated as NARTC from 1980 to 2004.  In 2004 NARTC was relocated to the current training center and renamed NAFRI, the National Advanced Fire and Resource Institute.

NAFRI’s history is tied to the 1957 Fire Task Force Report ordered by US Forest Service Chief, Richard McArdle, in response to a series of 16 fatality fires that span the years of 1937 to 1956. 79  firefighters perished in those fires.  The first was the Welcome Lake fire on the Huron National Forest and final fire was the Inaja fire on the Cleveland National Forest.  One of the key recommendations on the report was the creation of a service wide “Fire Control Training Center”.  The National Fire Training Center was established in 1967 at Pinal Air Park in Marana, Arizona, just north of Tucson.

NAFRI is located one-mile northeast of the Tucson International Airport in the Southwest Tucson submarket. The submarket, which encompasses over 10 million square-feet, is made up of industrial, manufacturing, retail, hospitality and medical tenants. There is also a strong presence of government facilities in the area, including the Bureau of Land Management, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Veterans Affairs, the Pima County Elections Office, and the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

Jason Schwartz of Syndicated Equities in Chicago represented the seller, Fogata Tucson Sponsor LLC, et al, also from Chicago.

For more information, Schwartz can be reached at 312.640.9016.

To learn more, see RED COMP #4023.