Shidler Sells Last Asset in Region to REIT

PHOENIX-Pacific Office Properties Trust Inc. and an institutional partner have taken control of the last of three office buildings in the region that were owned by the Shidler Group. Sources say the close-out deal came close to meeting the $66.25 million that San Diego-based Shidler paid in 2006 for the 370,400-sf US Bank Center in the CBD.

Dallas Lucas, president and CEO of Los Angeles-based Pacific Office Trust, says it had been Shidler’s intent to sell the 31-story landmark at 101 N. 1st Ave. and two other office buildings to the REIT following its merger with Arizona Land Income Corp. Previously sold were the one-million-sf CitySquare at 3800-4000 N. Central Ave. and 226,700-sf Black Canyon Corporate Center at 16404 N. Black Canyon Hwy. “A couple of those transactions occurred after the merger and now we own all of the square footage in the Phoenix market,” Lucas says.

Lucas says improvements are still being done to the US Bank Center although many upgrades were completed during Shidler’s hold. The building’s occupancy is 90%, with tenants including Jacobs Engineering Group and Valley Metro Rail, which is overseeing the light-rail development in the region. Lease rates hover $28 per sf, gross.