Irgens Pockets $35M for Phoenix Office Building

Ascend at Chandler Airport Center. Image courtesy of Cushman & Wakefield

Irgens has sold Ascend at Chandler Airport Center, a 130,642-square-foot office building in Chandler, Ariz., that is fully leased to education technology firm Zovio on a long-term basis. Phoenix-based Silver Creek Development paid $34.6 million for the Class A asset, financing the purchase with a $23.8 million loan from Sound Point Capital Management, public records show. Cushman & Wakefield represented both parties in the deal.

Irgens developed the two-story building at 1811 E. Northrop Blvd. The property sits on a nearly 11-acre parcel within Chandler Airport Center, a multi-building business park located just off the San Tan Loop 202 at the intersection with Cooper Road. The building features large open floorplates, above-standard ceiling heights and a parking ratio of more than 6 spaces per 1,000 square feet.

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Initially completed in 2016 as a one-story, 81,712-square-foot property, Ascend was slated for expansion in 2018, when Zovio leased it as shell building and started a major tenant improvement project which included the addition of a 50,000-square-foot mezzanine.

Delivered in 2019, the Zovio headquarters designed by McCarthy Nordburg now includes a town hall meeting space with stadium seating, health clinic, fitness center and full-service café, as well as sustainable elements such as solar panels and energy efficient LED lighting. Tech improvements feature DIRTT modular walls, acoustic panels and white noise systems that eliminate sound overlap.

Ascend is some 4 miles southeast of downtown Chandler, south of San Tan Freeway and 1 mile north of Chandler Municipal Airport. There are numerous shopping and dining options less than 2 miles east, in a dense retail area which includes Crossroads Towne Center and Mill Crossing, among others.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Chris Toci and Chad Littell arranged the latest sale transaction, while Greg Mayer provided leasing advisory.

Deals continue in the Valley

The current downturn has battered the greater Phoenix office market, but office sales have continued, with transaction volume up nearly 96 percent year-over-year in the first quarter, according to a market report by Colliers.

CommercialEdge data shows that Ascend was the only office transaction that closed in Chandler since the beginning of the year. However, 25 office assets, accounting for more than 3 million square feet, have changed hands across the Valley since January.

The largest office sale so far this year also involved a company’s headquarters. In March, BMP Real Estate Group paid $110 million for PetSmart’s 365,672-square-foot corporate offices in Phoenix.