ViaWest Pays $71M for Phoenix Industrial Portfolio

Clarion Partners has sold a six-building, 428,427-square-foot industrial portfolio in Gilbert, Ariz. According to public records, buyer ViaWest Group paid a total of $71.1 million for the assets and took out a $53.2 million acquisition loan from Walton Street Capital. JLL represented the seller and secured the financing.

In 2015, Clarion Partners acquired seven assets—including the properties traded in this deal—for $80 million from Myron Zimmerman Investments, CommercialEdge data shows.

A total of 11 tenants take space at the properties including SCP, United Refrigeration and SKY Distribution. The 27-acre portfolio was 98 percent leased with an average remaining term of 3 years.

READ ALSO: Is CRE’s Long-Awaited Reset Here?

The properties are:

• Continental Tech Center A&B, a two-building, 108,212-square-foot rail-served campus at 955 N. Fiesta Blvd. featuring 18 dock-high loading doors, 16- and 30-foot clear heights and eight drive-in doors
• El Dorado Tech Center I & II, a two-building, 126,472-square-foot climate-controlled park at 1171 & 1191 N. Fiesta Blvd. with 21-foot clear heights, 18 dock doors and nine drive-in doors
• The 180,087-square-foot El Dorado Tech Center III at 2075 & 2135 W. Obispo Ave., a two-building campus featuring 30-foot clear heights, 26 dock loading doors and four drive-in doors
• The 13,656-square-foot warehouse at 2020 W. Guadalupe Road

The properties are close to each other and some 21 miles from downtown Phoenix. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is within 14 miles.

JLL representation

The JLL Capital Markets team that brokered the transaction included Senior Managing Director Mark Detmer, Senior Director Greer Oliver, Managing Director Ryan Sitov and Associate Connor Nebeker-Hay. Last month, Detmer and Sitov were part of the group that arranged the sale of a 531,308-square foot portfolio in Tracy and Stockton, Calif.

Executive Managing Director Kevin MacKenzie, Director Jason Carlos and Director Jarrod Howard secured the financing, while Senior Managing Director Steve Larsen will conduct the leasing efforts.

ViaWest’s Phoenix industrial inventory

ViaWest Group has 32 industrial properties in the Phoenix market, CommercialEdge data shows, amounting to more than 4.2 million square feet. In August, the firm partnered with Walton Street Capital for the acquisition of a six-building portfolio encompassing 586,915 square feet. The assets traded for $97.8 million.

A few months later, ViaWest and Willmeng Construction broke ground on The Base, a 144-acre development in Glendale, Ariz. The first phase, measuring 1.2 million square feet across seven buildings, is expected to come online at the end of the year.

Phoenix’s industrial momentum

According to a recent CommercialEdge industrial report, 2023 was a good year for Phoenix’s industrial sector, considering current economic headwinds. The metro ranked first in terms of development across the country. Additionally, some $2.1 billion in assets changed hands last year for an average of $159 per square foot, well above the $129 national average.

In October, Prologis acquired Airpark Logistics Center, a 2.7 million-square-foot industrial development for $184 million, reportedly setting the record for the state’s largest multi-building industrial park sale. Creation and CrossHarbor Capital Partners were the sellers.