Aztec Engineering paid $3.7 million for a 40,946-sf, single-tenant office building near Sky Harbor International Airport. In the northwest quadrant, Scottsdale-based Covington Asset Management bought the five-building Santa Fe Office Plaza for $600,000.

Aztec Engineering will lease and sublease three existing properties to other users and consolidate its operations to 4561 E. McDowell Road by June 1. "One of the drivers was to maintain a Phoenix address," Ken McQueen, a vice president in Phoenix for Trammell Crow Co., tells GlobeSt.com. "From an office standpoint, it's been soft over the past two years. From an industrial standpoint, it's one of the stronger submarkets. This building has great exposure on McDowell Road, which is a main thoroughfare through Phoenix."

The 20-year-old, two-story building stood vacant on the market for just under two years. The seller, Paradise Valley-based Lawrence Bushkin Trust, offered Aztec a $700,000 carry-back loan, with the balance of the purchase price leveraged through a 25-year financing provided by Bank One Corp. of Chicago, according to McQueen.

McQueen, who represented Aztec alongside Andy Ogan of Trammell Crow Co., capitalized on his previous relationship with the buyer in negotiating the deal. "I've worked with them in the past, sold them a building and leased space for them. They've been experienced and recently acquired another engineering business and had the need to consolidate," McQueen says. Tom Adelson with CB Richard Ellis Inc.'s Phoenix team negotiated for the seller.

In the northwest sector, Covington Asset Management's five-building purchase at 4225 W. Glendale Ave. is a combination of 1970s-era, single- and two-story buildings totaling 27,036. The $600,000 check is "close to the lowest price per sf in Phoenix in the current market for sure," says Steve Lindley, also a TCC vice president in Phoenix.

Lindley says the buyer will change the name to the Adobe Point Office Park, bring in new management and extensively upgrade the buildings. The holding was less than half occupied at closing. "Because the property was mismanaged and poorly occupied, it really took the right buyer. Covington Asset Management is known as a really good operator here in town," says Lindley.

Seller MF Diessner & Co. of Phoenix received its only offer for the listing from Covington. Besides Lindley, the TCC team handling the transaction included Bob Buckley, Tracy Cartledge and Todd Noel.

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