International real estate growth strategy pursued to achieve diversification objectives of clients 

Toronto, Ontario, Canada — Great-West Life has announced that GWL Realty Advisors (GWLRA), through its U.S. subsidiary, has acquired the business of EverWest Real Estate Partners (EverWest) – a strategic move to build on GWLRA’s long-term strategy to establish a global investment platform to serve its investor clients. The CenterCap Group, LLC acted as financial advisor to GWL Realty Advisors U.S. in connection with this transaction. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, EverWest has been built on a 20-year foundation of real estate advisory experience through predecessor companies. EverWest currently manages a real estate portfolio of office, industrial, and multi-residential assets in key U.S. markets. Rick Stone, EverWest President and CEO along with his leadership team will continue to oversee the business.

“The acquisition of EverWest provides us with a real estate platform in the U.S. and opens up investment opportunities for our clients,” said Paul Finkbeiner, President, GWL Realty Advisors, “This acquisition is an important step for us in achieving our long-term growth strategy that will enhance our customers’ portfolio returns. EverWest has strong leadership and business teams that will continue to operate and grow the business.”

President, EverWest Real Estate Partners said, “we welcome the acquisition by GWL Realty Advisors as this transaction supports our vision of evolving our business to support the growing needs of domestic and international customers. Together, we are well positioned to meet the future needs of our mutual customers.”

Led by its mission to deliver stable, long-term returns for its customers, GWL Realty Advisors has been a trusted real estate investment advisor for more than 30 years, providing asset management, property management, development and specialized real estate advisory services to pension funds and institutional clients. In 2017, GWLRA was ranked number one in Canada by the Global Real Estate Benchmark, the world’s leading benchmark for evaluating and ranking the sustainability practices of real estate companies.

Phoenix, Arizona – The Quad, a fourteen-building, 166,606-square-foot office project in the heart of Scottsdale, Ariz., has two new companies to add to its tenant roster. The creative, class A property will soon be home to San Francisco-based Opendoor and Scottsdale-based Forward Tilt.

Bryan Taute and Charlie Von Arentschildt with CBRE’s Phoenix office negotiated the leases on behalf of the landlord, EverWest Real Estate Partners. Opendoor was represented by Tiffany Winne with Savills Studley and Forward Tilt was represented by Craig Coppola with Lee and Associates.

“Opendoor and Forward Tilt are perfect examples of tenants whose vision aligns with the creative nature of The Quad,” said CBRE’s Taute. “As Phase I nears completion and we get ready to kick off construction of Phase II, activity and interest will only increase in the project.”

Opendoor will take an entire 12,546-square-foot building in Phase I of The Quad. The tech-based real estate sales platform first launched in Phoenix in 2015 and most recently closed on a $210 million funding round to close out 2016.

Forward Tilt is a locally owned commercial furniture dealership that will be taking 8,278- square-feet of office space to house its headquarters and showroom. Forward Tilt is currently located in Scottsdale, AZ. This premier Allsteel dealership also represents more than 100 different manufacturers and supplies furniture to commercial, educational, healthcare, and hospitality clients in Arizona and around the country.

“Our company is about creating spaces and environments that showcase our clients’ cultures and support the employee experience,” said Michelle Heeb, Principal, Forward Tilt. “With that in mind, we were particularly conscious of how our new home would impact our culture and employee experience. Everwest has created an environment that is truly unmatched, and we look forward to calling The Quad home.”

The Quad is one of the latest redevelopment plays by the Colorado-based Everwest. The firm has made a name for itself in recent quarters with its success in repositioning older projects into top-tier, highly sought after office addresses.

“Opendoor is one of Arizona’s fastest growing tech startups, and Forward Tilt is a prime example of the creativity and drive of local entrepreneurs,” said Amr Ceran, senior director with EverWest. “Their vision validates the gap in the market for this type of creative concept that drew us to redevelop The Quad in the first place.”

Phase I of The Quad is comprised of six office buildings and one “amenities” building, which will house a soon-to-be-announced restaurant, a fitness center, a tenant amenity area, and Everwest’s Phoenix office. Phase I is currently 28 percent pre-leased and is set to deliver in February. Upon its completion, Phase I will offer 29,360-square-feet of spec suites.

Phase II of The Quad is comprised of seven office buildings, totaling 12,546-square-feet each, and will start construction in March. Those buildings are slated to deliver in October of this year.

Disposition underscores continued strength of Central Phoenix’s Midtown office submarket

PHOENIX, ARIZONA – EverWest Real Estate Partners and American Realty Advisors have completed the disposition of the Great American Tower, a landmark high-rise office building at 3200 N. Central Ave., in the heart of Phoenix’s Midtown office submarket.

Great American Tower, acquired in 2007, has been recapitalized and improved with a series of upgrades that, among other things, have earned the building an ENERGY STAR® ranking of 97 and a “Kilowatt Krackdown” award from the Phoenix Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) Green Building Committee.

Chris Toci, Chad Littell and Larry Downey of Cushman and Wakefield represented EverWest and American Realty Advisors in the sale. The new property owner is Colorado-based DPC Companies, a privately held commercial real estate firm specializing in the acquisition and development of commercial real estate in the West.

“This is an exciting time to own and operate office space in the Central Avenue corridor,” said Amr Ceran, Senior Director for EverWest. “Tenant interest is strong, and there is still solid upside potential for landmark properties like Great American Tower.”

“The Central Phoenix/Midtown office submarket is being transformed by the addition of over 4,000 multifamily units either under construction, planned or proposed,” added Toci. “In addition, large-scale expansions of two significant healthcare firms – Dignity Health and Banner Health Systems – have begun to dominate the submarket with 337,000 square feet of leasing during the previous 18 months.”

Built in 1985, Great American Tower is a 24-story, Class A high-rise office building totaling 344,527 square feet, with average building floorplates of 15,000 square feet. The property sits on 2.6 acres at the high-profile intersection of Osborn Road and North Central Avenue. It is currently 86 percent leased to a diverse tenant roll including Dignity Health as well as legal, finance, engineering and government entities.

Great American Tower sits adjacent to the 39-acre Park Central Mall and across the street from the One Lexington condominium high-rise. The Edison Midtown urban condominium project is under construction across the street.

EverWest Real Estate Partners, LLC is a Denver-based leading private real estate investment manager and operator who invests in core, value-add and opportunistic investments in office, industrial, multi-family, retail and mezzanine debt investments. EverWest serves a variety of clients that include major institutional investment managers, pension plans, foundations, endowments and high-net-worth individuals. EverWest provides a full-service investment management operating platform through its five regional offices with established acquisition, asset takeover, asset management, property management, financing, operations, risk management, advisory and reporting capabilities to its clients. EverWest has regional offices in Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix.

With over $8.0 billion in assets under management, American Realty Advisors is a leading provider of commercial real estate investment management services. For over 28 years, American has managed capital for institutional investors utilizing core and value-added commingled funds and separate accounts. American acquires assets directly or provides equity, preferred equity, mezzanine debt, debt, and hybrid debt to primary investors and developers operating throughout the United States for office, industrial, multi-family, and retail properties.

For more information on EverWest investment and development opportunities, visit www.EverWest.com or call EverWest Senior Director Amr Ceran at 602.875.6255.