Rick Danis with Grubb & Ellis/BRE Commercial tells GlobeSt.com that the buyer, owner and operator of several small business parks in the Western US exchanged a Portland apartment building for the latest local acquisition. "It was bought at a good return and they got favorable financing," Danis says of the firm's motivation behind the deal.

Built in the early 1970s, the 86,268-sf complex sits on 7.5 acres at 2901-2955 W. Indian School Rd. near 35th Avenue on the city's West Side. The property is 95% occupied by 29 tenants, "a pretty good mix of office, industrial, manufacturing and service users," Danis says, noting the leases range from 1,000 sf to 10,000 sf.

The business park was the fourth building acquired by Northgate in the metropolitan area in the last three years. In March 2001, the Oregon investment group paid $11.7 million for the 212,000-sf Maricopa Business Center, a 10-building office/warehouse complex at 40th Street and Broadway here. Four months later, the group spent $4.2 million for the two-building, 89,000-sf Airpark Business Center at 2180 S. 24th St., about a mile from Sky Harbor International Airport.

In the latest transaction, Danis and Paul Boyle, also with Grubb & Ellis/BRE Commercial represented both buyer and seller, Thunderbird Business Park LLC of Phoenix.