"The activity has been off the charts. There's really a lack of office space in that part of town," Tyler Smith, a senior associate with Grubb & Ellis/BRE Commercial's Phoenix office, tells GlobeSt.com. The project's leasing team, which includes Stephanie Hickok of Grubb & Ellis/BRE Commercial, is courting a mix of local and national tenants for the three-acre project.

Anticipated to open its doors for business in September, the class A Corte Freccia will feature 15,443 sf of first-floor retail space and 9,308 sf of upstairs office space. Tenants who have already signed on include Phoenix Financial Services,1,700 sf; Fidelity Title, 2,100 sf; and Oggi's Pizza, 4,500 sf. Stephens Land Co. will open a 2,000-sf office in the building. Corte Freccia will hold nine tenants at full capacity. A 4,555-sf pad abutting the project site has been set aside for a Paradise Bakery, which has signed a 10-year lease with Stephens Land. Rents at Corte Freccia are expected to range from $23.50 per sf to $29.50 per sf while Paradise Bakery's rent will likely reach $35 per sf because of its hard-corner location, says Merrell.

Stephens Land recently obtained a construction loan for slightly more than $4.3 million, getting a two-year term and 2% over prime interest rate from Johnson Capital Partners of Arizona LLC. "We've had a lot of infill that has been developed recently," says Keaton Merrell, a loan officer at Johnson Capital. "I've seen deals get funded with a lot less pre-leasing." Later this year, Johnson Capital expects to be sourcing a permanent loan for the mixed-use project and abutting pad site development, he says.