Cohen Equities acquired Corporate Center in January of 2016 with 50-percent vacancy and has brought the property to full occupancy in under a year. Now it plans to resell the asset.
The national real estate investment firm pursues commercial assets that present an opportunity to add value in both secondary and gateway markets. After bringing the asset to full occupancy with the help of local brokers, the firm announced the asset will be marketed for sale by Kidder Mathews’ Darren Tappen, Peter Beauchamp and Matthew Ault.
Tappen explains the best selling points for the asset are its high visibility, great location and long-term credit tenants in a redeveloping submarket that is experiencing tightening vacancy.
Corporate Center is a Class-A, 109,332-square-foot office building in Phoenix located at 10400 North 25th Avenue in the heart of the North Mountain Redevelopment Area, adjacent to Interstate 17 and near a Light Rail station.
“Phoenix continues to experience strong positive leasing absorption,” says Meir Cohen, chairman and CEO of Cohen Equities. “We feel the fundamentals of the Phoenix market remain among the best in the country and continue to seek acquisition opportunities there.”
The goal from an acquisition standpoint is typically to strive for major leasing transactions that lead to a capital event or outright sale of the asset within the first three years of holding the property.
Thus, Matt Legge, chief investment office at Cohen Equities, says the success of these efforts are largely based on working with the local folks, especially the brokers and property managers.
Cohen adds, “We were fortunate to execute an aggressive leasing strategy through our brokers Ryan Timpani and Keith Lambeth at Colliers International to bring the building to full occupancy in under a year.”
Long-terms tenants at the property include Avesis, a wholly owned subsidiary of Guardian Life Insurance, and Empereon Marketing, one of fastest growing companies in the state for providing of contact center solutions.
“This positions the asset very well for a buyer seeking stabilized income over the next 10 years,” explains Matt Arnone, asset manager at Cohen Equities.
In addition, the building has recently undergone upgrades to landscaping, surface parking areas, as well as renovations to interior building corridors and the lobby.
Arnone thinks its proximity to the adjacent Metrocenter Mall, which is currently undergoing a major capital renovation as well as the accompanying new light rail station, which all add to the optimal positioning of the asset and strong intrinsic value.
