The Phoenix office of Jones Lang LaSalle completed the sale of Camelback Arboleda, a 179,751 SF, multi-tenant office building located at 16th St. and Camelback Rd., in the heart of Phoenix’s Camelback Corridor.

Jones Lang LaSalle’s Senior Managing Director Dennis Desmond and Senior Vice President Brian Ackerman managed the sale to El Segundo, Calif.-based Westport Capital Partners LLC, a real estate investment firm specializing in distressed and opportunistic real estate assets.

Camelback Arboleda is currently 81% occupied by tenants including Stanley Consultants, Telesoft Corp., and a Starbucks administrative office. It is also the third large, opportunistic office building that Jones Lang LaSalle’s capital markets team has sold in suburban Phoenix since mid-2011. The sale price was reportedly more than $16M.

“All of these buildings are in very sought-after locations and provide great upside opportunity,” Desmond said. “They are the value-add combination that buyers have been waiting for.”

In addition to Camelback Arboleda, the capital markets team recently brokered the sale of Scottsdale Financial Center II— a 150,892 SF building at Indian School and Scottsdale roads that was purchased in late 2011 by Westport Capital Partners, and Scottsdale Centre — a 164,300 SF building located on Scottsdale Rd. near Indian Bend Rd. that was purchased in mid-2011 by Newport Beach, California-based MIG Real Estate.

According to Jones Lang LaSalle research, the Camelback Corridor was 87% occupied five years ago and rental rates averaged $30 per-square-foot. Today, occupancy has dropped to 69% and rental rates average approximately $24 per square foot.

“As local office occupancy levels improve, so do rental rates,” Ackerman said. “We are seeing signs of significant increased leasing activity now on the Camelback Corridor and that’s what is attracting investors.”