MESA, Arizona — The beleaguered Fiesta Mall located at 1445 W Southern Ave, Mesa, AZ at U.S. 60 and Alma School Road changed hands to a local Developer with plans to immediately design the Mall into a “Campus”.

According to public records, the property had an $83 million CMBS loan, that has been in the hands of special servicer LNR Partners Inc. for the past four years. The buyer paid $6.72 million ($21 PSF) and plans to invest up to an additional $30 million in the project.

The sale includes only the enclosed mall, surrounding parking areas and three nearby leased retail pads, totaling 318,495-square-feet. The property is currently less than 10 percent occupied.

Originally developed by the Homart Development Company in 1979, Fiesta Mall was previously anchored by four department stores. A Dillard’s clearance center and Sears remain as the mall’s only major tenants but were not part of the current sale.

The new Owners, Dimension Financial & Realty Investments, Inc. (“DFRI”) and its Principals, Jerry Tokoph and Wayne Howard, have developed many substantial projects throughout Metropolitan Phoenix.  These include the redevelopment of the Honeywell/Bull 160-acre mixed-use facility at I-17 and Thunderbird which now houses Fry’s Electronics, Best Buy and Lowe’s Home Improvement along with hundreds of residences and over a million square feet of offices leased to diversified national and local tenants.  Additionally, Mr. Tokoph acquired the former Revlon manufacturing facility with over 75 acres of land and redeveloped 700,000 square feet of flex/office and mixed industrial facilities.  Mesa Mayor, John Giles, said, “Fiesta Mall is the in the heart of the Fiesta District and I am excited to welcome DFRI to the team of developers working to revitalize one of Mesa’s greatest assets”.

Glenn Smigiel, Bob Young, Steve Brabant and Rick Abraham with CBRE’s Phoenix office and George Good with CBRE’s Chicago office represented the seller in the transaction.

Cashen Realty Advisors represented DFRI and Ray Cashen will spearhead marketing of the “Campus”.  He indicated the Property is ideally located in the epicenter of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area.  It is 15 minutes from Sky Harbor Airport, has over one million residents within a 10-mile radius, 10 minutes from Arizona State University, served by all transportation modes including light rail, bus and minutes from the 101 and 202 Freeways which connect to all the neighboring communities.  The Property is in close proximity to the Mesa technology boom area with firms like Apple, Intel, Boeing and Fujifilm minutes away.  The “Campus” contains over 1.2 million square feet including the Mesa Fiesta Corporate Center situated immediately to the east of the Mall, and currently owned by the Principals, which will be bridged into the Mall and become part of the main “Campus”.

Brad Smidt, Senior Vice President of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council said, “This will be an exciting adaptive reuse development and of great interest to corporate users looking to locate in Greater Phoenix.  We look forward to working with the Owners and the City of Mesa on this development”.  The “Campus” will showplace an innovative facility for those who desire a state-of-the-art environment to commingle with their peers.  The “Campus” will be a vibrant community within itself, day and night, with all the amenities one would ever need.  The primary focus will be on health and education with numerous areas designed for medical learning centers and colleges specializing in business, economics, engineering, global communications, law, nursing and liberal arts.

It is anticipated the “Campus” may build specially designed housing and provide eating and entertainment venues located in key areas.  These will also serve the offices, health club and a futuristic sanctuary that will cater to the entire community along with relaxing coffee, yogurt and specialty shops in internet-friendly gathering spaces and a German-style beer garden/sports venue for all to enjoy.

For additional information, contact Ray Cashen at 602-393-4447 or by email at [email protected].

The following leases were reported to Real Estate Daily News for the Phoenix Lease report during the week of March 13 thru 17, 2017.

RETAIL – 6720 N. SCOTTSDALE ROAD, SCOTTSDALE, AZ
Washington Federal signed a 10-year, 9,793-square-foot lease at Scottsdale Spectrum, 6720 N. Scottsdale Rd., Scottsdale. Lease commencement is scheduled for Q3 2017. Lee & Associates Principals Adam Tolson and Jim Watkins represented the landlord, Globe Corporation, Scottsdale. Glenn Smigiel of CBRE procured Washington Federal of Seattle, WA. Washington Federal has 238 branches in the 9 western states and 31 branches in Arizona. This move to the regional headquarters coincides with the 100th anniversary of Washington Federal. Built in 1998, Scottsdale Spectrum is comprised of three Class A office buildings featuring an on-site cafe, fitness center and lush corporate campus environment. The property enjoys a prestigious Scottsdale Road address, bordering the Town of Paradise Valley and directly adjacent to the $2 billion Ritz-Carlton Paradise Valley Resort, currently under construction.

RETAIL – 6030 E. MAIN ST., MESA, AZ
A lease for 2,241-square-feet in Buckhorn Plaza Shopping Center to Heart of Worship was recently consummated. The location of the property is 6030 E. Main St in Mesa, AZ. The owner of the center is EC Mesa LLC. Jared Lively of Rein & Grossoehme CRE represented both the owner and tenant on this transaction.

OFFICE – 1053 E. MILL ST., TUCSON
Computer & Printer Specialists & Cyberteq Consulting, LLC leased 1,248-square-feet of office space at 1053 E. Mill Street. Tim Healy and Bob DeLaney of CBRE represented the landlord, Copper State Land, LLC in the transaction.

RETAIL – 3953 E. CAMLEBACK RD., PHOENIX, AZ
Zen Sushi, Inc. dba Sushiholic, inked a 5-year lease with Crow Holdings at Arcadia Village, 3953 E. Camelback Road, Phoenix, AZ, 85018 for 984-square-feet in a former Baskin Robbins suite. This is an expansion of the existing Sushiholic restaurant in the adjacent space. Torrey Briegel and Cameron Warren of Phoenix Commercial Advisors represented the landlord. Signed in 1st Q 2017. Brian & Tom Woods of Colliers International in Phoenix represented the tenant.

Submit sales and leases to [email protected]

Phoenix, AZ – CBRE has completed the sale Tri-City Pavilions located at the northeast corner of Dobson Road and Main Street in Mesa, Ariz. The ±96,336-sq.-ft., Safeway-anchored shopping center commanded a sale price of $13.1 million ($136 PSF).

Bob Young, Glenn Smigiel, Steve Brabant and Rick Abraham with CBRE’s Phoenix office negotiated the transaction on behalf of the seller, J.G. Management Company of Westlake Village, Calif. The buyer is Fairfield, New Jersey-based Lamar Companies.

“Tri-City Pavilions is an interesting project. It has a prominent East Valley history, and is also playing a key part in the area’s future development,” said Young. “The property was originally developed as Tri-City Mall in 1968 and was anchored by JC Penny, Diamonds Department Store and a Bashas’ supermarket. Subsequently, the mall was demolished to make way for the current Tri-City Pavilions shopping center and a major park and ride center for the light rail system. Additional mixed-use transit oriented development is planned for the area as well.”

Young also said the former mall had the distinction of being the first enclosed shopping center in the East Valley region of Phoenix, and was originally named Tri-City because of the intent to draw shoppers from three cities: Mesa, Tempe and Chandler.

Completed in 2000, the property was 75 percent leased at time of sale. The asset includes a ±55,000-sq.-ft. Safeway surrounded by a mix of complementary daily necessity tenants. Tri-City Pavilions is strategically located within the nexus of Mesa’s extensive transportation hub. It is surrounded by numerous bus lines, adjacent to one of Mesa’s two Light Rail Transit Centers and is just one mile from the Loop 101 Freeway.