Marking her first acquisition in the Valley, Barbara Lembas bought the four-year-old building at 6142 W. Detroit St. from Harold Aesch, owner of Pestube Systems. "Harold decided to sell the building because he didn't want to own real estate anymore and wanted to cash out," says Jenifer Lunt, a senior sales associate with CB Richard Ellis Inc. in Phoenix. She and CBRE partners Steve Fernandez, Aric Adams and Bob Hubbard represented the seller in the all-cash transaction.

Lunt says Aesch, who was the building's original owner, wanted to vacate the warehouse building. So, the CBRE team marketed the building as 100% vacant. "We had expected that it would sell to an owner-user, but when this 1031 buyer popped, we realized that it fit her needs perfectly," she tells GlobeSt.com.

According to Lunt, Lembas was a motivated buyer because she needed to complete the 1031 exchange. Moreover, the Pestube building was the right size to house the Lembas' family business, which is run by her son. The business will occupy half of the building, which is readily accessible from Interstate 10. Aesch planned to relocate Pestube, which installs wall tube pest control systems in new home construction, but he now is in negotiation with Lembas to lease part of the structure. Lembas was represented in the transaction by Frank Burns of Paramount Rodeo Properties of Sherman Oaks, CA.