Financial Center Gets Tenant Boost with Recent Leases

An extensive renovation of the Biltmore Financial Center is underway.

PHOENIX—Recently completed leases totaling almost 28,500 square feet are the beginning signs of strong demand at the Biltmore Financial Center, a 635,000 square-foot, three-building class-A property at the northwest corner of 24th Street and Camelback. WealthPoint, Philadelphia Insurance, Mandel Young Law, Versant Capital Management and Fresenius Medical Care have signed leases within the last number of weeks. ViaWest Group also plans to move its office to the Biltmore Financial Center this summer. Steven Schwarz , a founding partner of ViaWest Group, tells GlobeSt.com: “We are seeing a resurgence of activity at the Biltmore Financial Center. It appears that the legacy and quality of the asset coupled with our present renovation focused on meeting today’s demands is resonating with the tenants. ViaWest Group is responding to robust interest likely drawing more high-quality businesses to the complex.” ViaWest Group is currently conducting a multi-million dollar renovation of the Biltmore Financial Center after purchasing the complex last summer. Expected to be complete in July, the renovation also includes new speculative suites. These eight suites ranging in size from 1,600 to 11,000 square feet total 35,000 square feet. The suites will have modern entries with built-in reception desks, comfortable break rooms, LED direct/indirect lighting and significant interior glass. The renovation will also include overhauling the 1-acre plaza with a new fountain, providing significant shade from new landscaping and structure and offering an assortment of outdoor seating and meeting spots. The café will get an overhaul to include a patio. The 4,400-square-foot gym will be renovated with new equipment, rehabbed locker rooms, refurbished workout space and a new yoga/fitness room. Key elements of the lobby space, corridors, bathrooms and elevator lobbies will also be upgraded. Other activity at the Biltmore Financial Center includes an expansion of a previous lease by WealthPoint, which moved into a 5,000-square-foot office in the 11-story Biltmore Financial Center II (the Northern Trust Tower at 2398 E. Camelback Rd.) in late January. The new office maintains WealthPoint’s expansive view of 24th Street and Camelback Road. In April, Philadelphia Insurance will move into its new 4,606-square-foot office, also in the Biltmore Financial Center II, with a balcony and Camelback Corridor view. Mandel Young Law will move from another location on Camelback Road to its new 2,843-square-foot office with a corner view and a balcony in the four-story Biltmore Financial Center I in May. Nearly doubling its existing lease at Biltmore Financial Center, Versant Capital Management will move into 6,400 square feet in the six-story Biltmore Financial Center III (2394 E. Camelback Rd.) in May. Fresenius Medical Care will move into a 4,301-square-foot office with excellent views and a prime entry off the elevator lobby in the Biltmore Financial Center II in May. “The tenants, and our significant pipeline of prospective tenants, have been drawn to the Biltmore Financial Center especially considering our renovation, which advances the legacy and enhances the property’s premium, modern-work environment,” said Schwarz.