"There was strong interest to buy based on interest rates, but we didn't have multiple offers that were fighting over the building," Tom Louer, a principal at Phoenix-based Lee & Associates Arizona, tells GlobeSt.com. The early 1980s-era building at 251 E. University Drive stood on the market four months before seller DRS Holdings LLC of Boise, ID, entered negotiations with Modular Display Systems of Placentia, CA. Escrow lasted 60 days. The deal closed at $54,000 less than the asking price, says Louer.

The new owner has leased the building for one month to a neighboring business that had an emergency need, says Rick Foss, a senior associate and principal at Grubb & Ellis/BRE Commercial in Phoenix. The owner expects to move in within 1.5 months. "He was looking at Phoenix and Las Vegas. Upon reviewing both markets, he felt that Phoenix had more to offer his business," Foss says. "Long-term appreciation in that area was an appeal to my client."

The property sits on the northern bank of the Rio Salado Beyond the Banks Area Plan, an $87-million economic development project aimed at beautifying the river and increasing the value of its adjacent properties. Louer and Matt Hobaica, also with Lee & Associates Arizona, represented the seller. Foss represented the buyer in the deal.