City Office REIT Expands in Metro Phoenix

The Quad

In a $51 million deal, City Office REIT, of Vancouver, has purchased The Quad, a 14-building, 166,606-square-foot creative office campus in Scottsdale, Ariz. NKF Capital Markets represented the seller, a joint venture of Everwest, George Oliver Cos. and WHI Real Estate Partners.

Occupying 13.4 acres at 6200-6390 E. Thomas Road, the property is 98 percent leased. It was built in 1982 as Scottsdale Executive Villas and in 2017 underwent a $23 million renovation that transformed the asset into a creative office environment.

The property features a connected design, a fitness center with showers, on-site restaurant and coffee bar, a community lounge/conference center, walking/biking paths, and accessible WiFi throughout the campus.

“With the recent completion of a major capital improvement campaign, The Quad offered the buyer one of the only true creative campus-style office projects within the greater Phoenix area,” C.J. Osbrink of NKF said in a prepared statement.

The property is close to the Loop 101 Freeway, Loop 202 Freeway and State Route 143, and only 10 minutes from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

City Office REIT did not respond to Commercial Property Executive’s request for additional information.

C.J. Osbrink, Kevin Shannon, Ken White, Paul Jones, Brunson Howard and Rick Stumm of NKF Capital Markets represented the seller.

The two-phase redevelopment of The Quad was highlighted as two of 2017’s top 10 office project completions in metro Phoenix.

Tightening market spurs spec construction

The Phoenix office market at the moment is characterized by falling vacancy and rising asking rents, despite lower net absorption than 12 months ago, according to a first-quarter report from Colliers International. Part of the response to this market, naturally, has been an upswing in spec office construction (now around 1.5 million square feet), though much of this won’t be completed till next year.

Rents in the Scottsdale South submarket have made some of the strongest gains in metro Phoenix, according to Colliers. Asking rents there have increased by 7 percent year-over-year, ending the first quarter at $30.54 per square foot.

Image courtesy of NKF Capital Markets