Tucson, Arizona — Presson Corporation of Phoenix (Daryl Burton, manager) purchased nine buildings totaling 124,863-square-feet at 3601, 3621, 3631, 3641-3681 E. 44th St. and 3200, 3210, 3220, 3230, 3250, 3300, 3320 S. Dodge Blvd.  in Tucson for $6,491,160 ($52 PSF).

The South Dodge Business Center is located near Butterfield Industrial Park, I-10 and Tucson International Airport and was approximately 68% occupied when it sold. It is also located less than 8-miles away from the future Amazon Fulfillment Center at Century Park Research Center that pulled building permits last month for the approximately 1.2 million-square-feet of warehouse and office space being developed by Seefried Industrial Properties.

Obviously, local suppliers will benefit from the Amazon facility in terms of lower shipping costs, avoidance of tariffs and duties and improved profit margin. Additionally, Amazon stands to benefit from the many products unique to southern Arizona, which have a worldwide appeal.

Amazon currently employs more than 7,000 in Arizona; new Tucson facility will employ more than 1,500 associates. Between 2011 and 2016, Amazon’s investments in Arizona contributed more than $900 million to the state’s economy, indirectly creating 18,000 additional jobs on top of the 7,000 the company employs directly.

According to the press release, Pima County and Sun Corridor Inc. played an active role in bringing the Amazon project to Tucson.

“Southern Arizona continues to attract industry leaders like Amazon seeking the ideal location for their next phase of growth,” said Sandra Watson, President and CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority. “Amazon’s continued expansion throughout Arizona with this new operation in Tucson speaks to the company’s confidence in our state as an excellent place to do business.”

Rob Glaser, SIOR, CCIM Industrial Specialist with Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR, represented the buyer; Jonathan Jump with Jump Ventures, represented the seller, DFI Investments, LLC (Michael Danziger, member).

Glaser has the leasing contract for the property. For more information, Glaser should be reached at 520.546.2707 and Jump is at 520.733.0007.

To learn more, see RED Comp #5812.

JLL completes 38,000 s.f. lease bringing San Francisco firm, 300 jobs to Valley

PHOENIX, Arizona – The Phoenix office of JLL has completed a new, 38,000-square-foot lease that will relocate FinTech company Upgrade Inc. from San Francisco into two floors at Renaissance Center I in downtown Phoenix. The move is the latest example of a Silicon Valley company expanding its essential business functions in Phoenix instead of taking more space in the Bay Area.

Upgrade – a new consumer credit platform that combines marketplace lending with tools that help consumers understand and monitor their credit – is in the process of hiring 100 customer service, credit operations and collections professionals in Phoenix, and expects to add an additional 200 employees by the end of 2018.

“Downtown Phoenix offered everything we were looking for in a new office location, both for our company and our employees,” said Renaud Laplanche, Upgrade Co-founder and CEO. “It is at the center of a dynamic business environment, is convenient to workforce living throughout the Valley and is surrounded by amenities, including a light rail stop right at the building. This is going to help us recruit talent who want to work in a fast-growing company that also cares about offering a great work environment.”

Executive Vice President Ryan Bartos from the JLL Phoenix office, along with Managing Director Travis James and Vice President Matt Aljets from the JLL San Francisco office, represented Upgrade in its site selection and lease negotiations.

“We’ve reached a point where there are more than 70,000 jobs within one mile of downtown,” said Bartos. “That makes it an extremely attractive destination for a company.” He adds that Tempe is an equally dynamic location, but with an approximate 5 percent vacancy rate, finding the amount of space a company like Upgrade needs is challenging and expensive. He says that Old Town Scottsdale has large blocks of space as well, but its lease rates are also still high.

“A company saves 15 percent to 30 percent locating in downtown Phoenix,” said Bartos. “Along with that savings, they gain a location where there are significant amenities available within a short walk and access to great talent.”

“Phoenix is rapidly becoming a recognized destination for tech companies looking to expand operations,” said Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton. “Upgrade is a significant addition to our Downtown tech hub – a Silicon Valley-based online lender that will add 300 employees to the thriving innovation culture that is growing in our high rise-office space and historic warehouses.”

“After a competitive process, I’m pleased that Upgrade has selected Arizona to scale their operation,” said Sandra Watson, President and CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority. “Upgrade’s arrival is a significant addition to Arizona’s already thriving advanced business services sector, and further evidence of the fact that Arizona’s value proposition continues to resonate with companies seeking a location to scale their success rapidly.”

Upgrade is the fourth major technology company—the third from San Francisco—to make a Phoenix expansion. A major consideration for Upgrade is the $50 million in renovations underway by new Renaissance owners Cypress Office Properties and Oaktree Capital Management.

“We are repositioning Renaissance Square to be Phoenix’s premier office towers,” said Mark Wayne, Principal with Cypress Office Properties. “The modernization of the lobbies and the addition of indoor-outdoor collaborative meeting space outside tenants’ offices is what companies want today.”

State and City Officials Join Company Executives at Ribbon-Cutting Celebration at ADP’s Sales Facility

TUCSON, Arizona — ADP® is adding 250 positions to its Tucson workforce, bringing to 400 the number of ADP associates in Tucson and to nearly 2,000 the number of ADP associates who will be working in Arizona.

ADP has leased 49,543-square-feet on two floors of the company’s signature facility at 5451 East Williams Blvd. in Tucson. That sold at the end of the year along with 5431 E Williams Blvd for $13.85 million ($144 PSF) to an affiliate of the Decurion Corporation based in Los Angeles, California, parent company to Pacific Service Company.

The seller was WCCP Williams Tech, LLC of Torrance, California (Phil Skillings, member) that acquired the two properties in September 2016.

At a news conference during a ribbon-cutting ceremony, ADP CEO Carlos Rodriguez praised the company’s partnership with state and city officials to create the kind of environment conducive to ADP’s ongoing growth.

“I’m quite pleased with the collaboration between the State of Arizona, the City of Tucson and ADP that has helped us create these new jobs in Tucson and 1,500 additional new jobs in Tempe,” said Rodriguez. “ADP is all about helping our clients succeed, and I’m delighted that the people of Arizona will be playing key roles in helping us do that.”

Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild and Sandra Watson, president and CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority, joined company executives and associates during a ribbon-cutting celebration in Tucson this past week

“I’m delighted that ADP has chosen to increase its presence in Tucson, a city with a talented workforce that is focused on helping companies like ADP succeed in meeting the needs of their clients,” said Mayor Rothschild.

Watson echoed those remarks.

“ADP’s impressive growth in our state emphasizes Arizona’s competitiveness in meeting the needs of business and providing jobs for our citizens,” said Watson. “Under Governor Ducey’s leadership, the Arizona Commerce Authority and our partners are proud to support ADP’s continued success in both Tucson and Tempe.”

The Tucson facility is a sales location, where associates help clients and prospects find the right payroll, HR and human capital management solutions for their business needs.

Among the talent ADP is seeking to attract to its Tucson facility: Associates who reflect the diversity inherent in the clients ADP serves; graduates of the University of Arizona, especially those from the Eller School of Business, and veterans and military spouses given the presence of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, among others.

“We need to match the diversity in the marketplace with diverse sales talent and expertise, and Tucson is rich in highly educated, diverse talent,” Rodriguez said. The company also said it has been impressed with graduates it has met from the Eller School of Business and the University of Arizona.

ADP also has a valued team of more than 1,000 veterans who work at the company.

“We’ve learned through experience that veterans have demonstrated strong leadership skills, strong resiliency, and a wonderful ability to work as team players to get things done,” Rodriguez said. “Those are exactly the kinds of skills we need.”

Veterans at ADP have come from all branches of the military and served in every major conflict since Vietnam. The company currently employs 56,700 associates globally.

ADP is a comprehensive global provider of cloud-based human capital management solutions that helps companies build better workforces by uniting HR, payroll, talent, time, tax and benefits administration. The company is a leader in business outsourcing services, analytics, and compliance expertise. ADP serves more than 640,000 clients of all types and sizes in 111 countries around the world, and pays one in six workers in the United States (26 million people) and 13 million wage-earners elsewhere.

People interested in applying to work at ADP in Tucson can visit jobs.ADP.com.

ADP has long been recognized as a valued employer. Recent accolades have included:

• One of the “100 Best Companies for Working Mothers” as recognized by Working Mother® magazine.
• One of the “50 Best Companies for Diversity” as recognized by Black Enterprise® magazine in partnership with the Executive Leadership Council.
• One of the “50 Best Companies to Sell For” as recognized by Selling Power® magazine.
• One of the “Best Places to Work in IT” as recognized by Computerworld® magazine.