The Prince of Oracle LLC (Rick and Kevin Volk, members) purchased the former mixed use Carrington College complex at 3550 North Oracle in Tucson for $1.5 million ($30.18 PSF).

The property last occupied by Carrington College, was previously Apollo College, and transferred to Carrington in a non-arm’s length transaction when Carrington College acquired the Apollo College business.

The 49,705-square-feet under roof property on a 3.1 acre lot is located at the southeast corner of Prince and Oracle. It was 100% vacant at time of sale. Rick Volk reported that the college had remodeled 30,000-square-feet of offices in 2005 and there is an additional 10,000-square-feet of retail space and another 9,000-square-feet of warehouse space, all approximate numbers.

The property was purchased for investment and redevelopment as needed for lease. Based on interest in the property so far, Rick Volk reported, it will probably remain a mixed-use of office, retail and possible warehouse space.

“We’re excited about bringing the property back to market,” Rick Volk said. “The property has been vacant too long at this significant traffic-count corner, with 80,000 vehicles per day, we’re already getting interest from retail, office and even a school-use tenant.”

Chris Hollenbeck with Cushman & Wakefield in Phoenix represented the seller, Spirit Realty Capital (NYSE: SRC) a Scottsdale-based net-lease real estate investment trust (REIT) that invests in and manages a portfolio primarily of single-tenant properties.

For leasing information, Kevin and Rick Volk can be reached at Volk Company in Tucson at 520.326.3200. Hollenbeck can be contacted at 602.224.4475 for more information on this transaction.

To learn more, see RED Comp #4024.

Two pads sold at the Fry’s center under construction at Valencia and Valley Indian Agency Road in Tucson for an aggregate sum of $987,363 ($5.63 PSF).

The hard corner pad located at the southwest corner of Valencia and Valley Indian Agency Road is 71,025-square-feet and was purchased by Steamroller Pad LLC (Rick Volk, Manager) for $544,104 ($7.66 PSF) to be a national restaurant built-to-suit.

The other, a 104,479-square-foot pad adjacent to the Fry’s store under construction sold for $443,259 ($4.24 PSF) and will be used for 7,800-square-feet of inline shop space. The inline space is over 50% pre-leased to Nationwide Vision, Great Clips and Lee Spa Nails, with 900 – 3,600-square-feet available for lease.

The end cap is to include a 600-square-foot patio ideal for a restaurant tenant.

The shop space has broken ground and is scheduled to open in early November.

The seller of both properties was Smith’s Food & Drug Centers, Inc. of Tolleson, Arizona that was self-represented in the transactions. Brenna Lacey of Volk Company in Tucson represented the buyer, Steamroller LLC.

Brenna Lacey and Kevin Volk are the leasing contacts for the buyer.

For more information, Lacey and Volk should be reached at 520.326.3200.

To learn more, see RED Comp #3973 and #3974.

Tucson net leased retail investments properties was the No. 1 alternative-investment pick for 2014.

As fixed-income yields remained historically low and equities surged, investors turned to gently rebounding net-leased single-tenant (NLST) real estate properties as a favorite for individual investors. The competition for NLST product in Tucson has been stiff in 2014. Private investors competed against institutional investors such as real estate investment trusts, insurance companies, and pension funds for investment-grade assets. Those properties leased by tenants that have received a credit rating of BBB- or higher from credit rating agencies such as Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s are seen by many investors as an alternative to bonds, producing a steady return with very little risk.

The following three Tucson retail sales closed before year-end 2014 and total $13.5 million.

AVG Partners of Beverly Hills, CA purchased the 45,000-square-foot property on 8.5 acres, occupied by LA Fitness at 8850 N Oracle Road in Oro Valley for $9.6 million ($212 PSF) in a sale leaseback agreement. The sale was part of a seven property investment portfolio sold by LA Fitness International. The buyer was unwilling to disclose method for price allocations or a total portfolio sale price. AVG Partners is a private equity group formed in 1997 for the purpose of investing in NNN commercial properties. Peter Gilbert, CCIM, Executive Vice President at AVG handled the transaction. See RED Comp #2373 for more information.

White Toys, LLC and Steamy Shops, LLC of Tucson (Rick Volk, managing member) acquired the 17,800-square-feet in two buildings on 2.9 acres at 11015 N Oracle Rd in Steam Pump Village Retail Center in Oro Valley for $3 million ($169 PSF). The property was 100% leased with five tenants when it sold: Tucson Children’s Museum, Carpet One, Baggin’s, Interior Expressions and Farmers Insurance.

The shops (aka Lot 1) are a portion of Steam Pump Village, a 42-acre, mixed-use project containing other businesses and amenities such as BASIS School, Chili’s, Quik Trip, Holiday Inn and the new HSL luxury Encantada Apartments at Steam Pump Ranch.

The seller was Evergreen-Steam Pump, and affiliate of Evergreen Devco of Phoenix (Bruce Pomeroy, president). Brenna Lacey and Rick Volk of Volk Company in Tucson handled the transaction. See RED Comp #2327 for more information.

HiFalutin Western Grill (Cheree Garrett, president) at 6780 N Oracle Road in Tucson sold to private investors, Thomas and Ines Leanard of Tubac, AZ for $850,000 ($257.58 PSF). The 3,300-square-foot restaurant was built in 2001 as an authentic hacienda style freestanding building bringing an old west feel to long-term tenant, HiFalutin, the same owner as gourmet sandwich shops, Baggin’s.

Stephen Grimm of Grimm Commercial handled the transaction for investors and seller, DG Oracle, LLC of Tucson (Marcel Dabdoub, manager). See RED Comp #2364 for more information.

To learn more about these transactions, Peter Gilbert can be reached at 310.273.0864. Make contact with Volk and Lacey at 520.326.3200. Grimm should be phoned at 520.323.9752.

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[mepr-show rules=”58038″] LA Fitness closed 12/26/2014. Exact sale price is $9,558,750. APN 225-12-065A. Although investor would not disclose cap rate for property or portfolio, other recent sales of LA Fitness have been delivering cap rates in general from 7.18% to 7.4% according to an LA Fitness representative. See RED Comp #2373 for additional information.

Lot 1 at Steam Pump Village Retail closed 12/12/2014. APN 220-08-452. The transaction was an upleg for one of the buyers in a 1031 exchange. Property sold at a 7.8% cap rate.

HiFalutin restaurant closed 12/24/2014. APN 12-03-150F. The property sold at a 9.4%-9.5% cap rate.[/mepr-show]