JV Buys AZ Assets for $145M; Flips 190,000 SF

SCOTTSDALE, AZ-In a simultaneous acquisition/disposition, Lowe Enterprises Real Estate Group of Los Angeles and Stamford, CT-based GE Real Estate have acquired a 711,381-sf, $144.5 million portfolio. Immediately on the heels of the buy, the JV flipped close to a quarter of it to BlackRock Realty Advisors of New York, NY.

BlackRock now owns the 190,702-sf Gainey Ranch Financial Center at 7377 E Doubletree Ranch Rd. The Lowe/GE joint venture retains ownership and in the 269,091 SF Paradise Valley Office Park at 11811 N. Tatum Blvd. in Phoenix and the 251,588 SF Scottsdale Executive Office Park at 7975 N. Hayden Rd. and 8655 E. Via de Ventura in Scottsdale. The group is planning $1.4 million in upgrades.

“One of the three assets was a core property that fit another investor’s criteria better than ours,” explains Kent Merselis, senior vice president of Lowe Group’s Arizona office. “They’d been a competing bidder and had introduced themselves to us as a potential buyer, should we be successful in the bidding process.” With the JV’s success in the acquisition, “BlackRock was willing to step up and pay us a premium,” Merselis says, declining to elaborate on what BlackRock paid for the facility.