The distribution building features dock-high loading and 30-foot clear heights. Exel signed a three-year lease, which is valued at more than $1 million based on market rates.

The building is in the Kyrene Commerceplex, an industrial park just north of Warner Road in South Tempe. The project is about a mile and half from Interstate 10, and about miles from the recently opened Price Freeway section of the Loop 101. The location is well suited for distribution to South Phoenix and all of the East Valley.

As a landlocked city, Tempe has relatively little land remaining for industrial development. The vacancy rate at the start of the second quarter for warehouse and distribution space in Tempe was approximately 7.58%.

Because of its proximity to I-10 and the rest of the East Valley, Tempe has the highest asking rent for distribution and warehouse space in the Valley, 52 cents per sf.

Rich Sica of Daum Commercial Real Estate Services and Jim Wilson of Cushman & Wakefield represented Exel in the transaction, while the Phoenix office of CB Richard Ellis represented the building owner.