PHOENIX, Arizona – Cypress Office Properties, LLC announced today that construction has commenced on phase one of a $50 million renovation of Renaissance Square in Phoenix. The $10 million first phase includes upgrades to both building’s lobbies, the lower level lobby, elevators, the creation of a 7,000-square-foot, multi-purpose conference facility and construction of multiple, high-end, move-in ready, office suites.

“We are on the fast track to transforming Renaissance Square into a contemporary, amenity rich environment,” said Mark Wayne, principal of Cypress Office Properties, which owns Renaissance Square in a joint-venture with funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. “Our goal is to create a setting that is appealing to existing and future tenants, and enables them to attract and retain the Valley’s top workforce talent.”

The two towers will have different themes – Building One will have a “tech” atmosphere, with a lobby that features a live plant wall with integrated technology for digital signage. Building Two will feature boutique-style interior finishes, with a warm hospitality feel. Both lobbies will serve as places for tenants to work, collaborate, socialize, eat and drink.  The renovation of the LEED Gold Certified buildings also includes updates to flooring, restrooms, elevators and lighting.  Future phases will include the reimagining of Renaissance Square’s unique third-story tennis courts into an elevated outdoor meeting area, event space and garden, and renovations to the gym and the bridge connecting the two buildings.

“Our biggest inspiration was the local and urban feeling of downtown Phoenix,” said Alissa Franconi, Senior Associate at RSP Architecture Ltd., the project’s architect. “We drew inspiration from local buildings and landscape, but also wanted to make Renaissance Square unique compared to surrounding structures. The integrated tech piece of building one is a huge differentiator.”

“We are witnessing Downtown Phoenix being transformed into a dynamic live-work-play district, with significant lease requirements coming from suburban submarkets within Phoenix, as well as from new requirements from out of town” Wayne added. “This momentum and demand for quality office space in Downtown Phoenix is a perfect match with what we are creating at Renaissance Square.”

Wespac Construction, Inc., Phoenix, is the project’s general contractor. Craig Coppola of Lee & Associates Arizona is representing Renaissance Square in lease activity.

Phoenix – Inteplast Group, Ltd.of Livingston, N.J. (Dr. John Young, president) plans to hire 70 workers for its plastics manufacturing facility opening in Phoenix. The company paid $5.825 million ($55 PSF) to buy the 106,000-square-foot industrial project at 4101 W. Buckeye Road in Phoenix.

The seller was a company formed by ProLogis, Inc. of Denver, Colo. (NYSE:PLD).

Established in 1991 and headquartered in Livinston, NY, Inteplast Group is the largest manufacturer of integrated plastics in North America. The new facility is expected to be operational in Phoenix by early 2015. The acquisition from ProLogis included land targeted for another 50,000-square-feet of industrial space.

The buyer in the cash sale was represented by Bill Rudolph of CBRE in Houston, TX., and Jerry McCormick, John Werstler and Cooper Fratt of CBRE in Phoenix. The seller was represented through Matt Hobaica and Nate Bubeck of Lee & Associates Arizona of Phoenix.

Interplast now operates 40 manufacturing plants and 10 warehouses in North America.  The company’s facilities in Texas are the largest of its kind. Using the latest, most innovative technology, including advanced automation and computerization. Its plants have achieved ISO 9001: 2008 Certification, the international stamp of quality manufacturing.

Inteplast Group’s three divisions—AmTopp, Integrated Bagging Systems, and World-Pak—offer a diverse product line including BOPP film, stretch film, and XF cross-laminated film; grocery, merchandise, and garment bags; trash can liners and other plastic bags and supplies; fluted plastic sheets; and free foam and celuka PVC sheets.

In June 2012, ProLogis bought the building and an adjacent 16-acre parcel that is planned for another 220,000-square-feet of industrial space. Hobaica and Bubeck are marketing the remainder of the property for a build-to suit.

Find out more by calling Inteplast at (973) 994-8000. Rudolph can be reached at (713) 577-1727 and the other CBRE agents in Phoenix are at (602) 735-5555. Hobaica and Bubeck should be contacted at (602) 956-7777 for more information.

Phoenix/Gilbert – A venture formed by a division of the McShane Cos in Rosemont, Ill. (Jim McShane, pres.) plans to develop a 155,351-square-foot speculative industrial project in Phoenix on the heels of the company selling a medical facility in Gilbert. The industrial building will be developed by Conor Commercial Real Estate, the successor to McShane Development Co.

The project is targeted for a site located west of the northwest corner of 32nd and Canal streets in Phoenix. Conor Commercial’s plans for the spec industrial project follows the company’s nearly $30 million sale of a medical property in Gilbert. After building numerous industrial and office projects in the Valley as McShane Development, the company is now operating as Conor Commercial.

The company is building the industrial space within the Canal Crossing Park industrial project. The rear-loaded building, being called Canal Crossing Logistics Center at 5670 S. 32nd Street. The project is being developed by a venture formed by Conor Commercial and Globe Corp. in Scottsdale (George Getz, principal).

Public records show Conor Globe-Canal Crossing LLC paid $1.8 million to buy the 10.1-acre site. The seller was Canal Crossing Phoenix #2 LLC, a company formed by General Development Co in Southfield, Mich. (Bruce Brickman, principal). The buyer in the cash sale was represented by Allen Lowe and Jeff Conrad of Lee & Associates Arizona in Phoenix. Matt McDougall and Stein Koss also of Lee & Associates represented the seller.

Sean Cummings of Conor Commercial in Phoenix says construction is set to start in July, with completion expected early 2015. McShane Construction Co. is to serve as contractor. Butler Design Group in Phoenix is the architect. Atherton Engineering Inc. in Phoenix is the civil engineer. Development cost (land and building) is estimated at just over $12 million. Bank of America is providing construction financing.

Lowe and Conrad have the leasing assignment for the multi-tenant project.

In the Gilbert sale, a company formed by Fairways Equities in Dallas, Tex. (Brant Bryan, David Stringfield, principals) paid $29.5 million ($414 PSF) for the two-story, 71,259-square-foot medical facility located north of the 202 Loop at 3825 S. Val Vista Drive. That project is leased to the United States Veteran’s Admisntration (VA) in a 20-year lease agreement valued at $39 million. The seller was McShane VA Gilbert LLC. Records show Gilbert Healthcare Special LLC (Fairways Equities entity) acquired the property with a $27.838 + million senior loan and a junior loan of $1.7 million. The beneficiary is Wells Fargo Bank, as trustee of the VA CTL Pass-Through Trust.

McShane acquired the 8.867-acre Gilbert site at year-end 2012 after being selected to develop the project by responding to a request for proposal (RFP) issued by the VA. McShane completed the VA Outpatient Clinic build-to-suit in March. The investment is the first in the Valley for the privately-held Fairways Equities, which is an affiliate of Dallas-based Cresa Partners Capital Markets.

Contact Cummings at (602) 515-0884. Mike Olsen of Globe Corp. is at (480) 991-0500. Reach Bryan and Stringfield at (972) 713-4000. The Lee & Associates agents are at (602) 956-7777.

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