Jan Fincham and Patrick Dempsey, both of the Phoenix-based Lee & Associates Arizona, negotiated the transaction for the buyer, Diamante-Gilbert Crossing LLC, and seller, Gilbert Sunset LLC. Dempsey, pleased with the price per sf, tells GlobeSt.com that the buyer is a syndicate of 1031 exchange investors.

The suburban center was developed in 2001 at the intersection of Gilbert and Guadalupe roads by its merchant-build seller. Dempsey said the project was on the market for a little more than a year before selling, but part of that time was actually during construction.

The 95%-leased shopping center was a work-in-progress with new leases being signed right up until the Aug. 9 closing. Its tenant roster has Bally Total Fitness as its anchor and inline tenants such as Community Bank of Arizona and Papa Johns.

Dempsey believes the excellent sales price was due in large part to favorable financing. "With 10-year treasury notes at their lowest in years, it makes these deals all the sweeter for the investors," he says. Like the newly sold Scottsdale Technology Center, the shopping center had no existing debt that needed to be assumed, enabling the new owners to procure acquisition financing at the prevailing favorable conditions.