PHOENIX, AZ – ViaWest Group, in a joint venture with Contrarian Capital Management of Greenwich, CT, has sold a single-tenant office building, occupied by global asset manager Vanguard Group, for $32.1 million. The building, Raintree Corporate Center II, was purchased along with its twin building, the multi-tenant Raintree Corporate Center I, in December 2015 on Auction.com.
The buyer is a private investor in a 1031 exchange. ViaWest will continue to manage the property for new ownership, along with managing the multi-tenant building for the ViaWest-Contrarian joint venture. Both the buyer and seller were represented by Jim Fijan and Will Mast of CBRE in Phoenix.
ViaWest and Contrarian's investment strategy was to immediately sell the single-tenant building to a stable-yield oriented buyer, while leasing up the multi-tenant building, which was roughly 71% occupied when purchased and is now over 82% leased only 9 months later.
“We think this is a great deal for both sides: We continue to own Raintree I as a lease-up play, in a submarket with rapidly increasing rents, while the buyer gets a Class-A building occupied by one of the world's most respected companies," noted Gary Linhart, Founding Partner of ViaWest Group. "This is another instance where we converted a value-added situation into a very attractive investment for a 1031 exchange buyer," added Danny Swancey, Partner and Senior Vice President of ViaWest Group,
“We are very pleased to have helped ViaWest and Contrarian successfully implement the first phase of their plan for the Raintree Corporate Center buildings,” said CBRE’s Jim Fijan. “The sale reflects investors’ continued strong interest in the Scottsdale office market.”