An affiliate of Cottonwood Properties announced they will be constructing and leasing a 60,000 square foot distribution facility for Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. (Ventana), a member of the Roche Group. The new facility is located in Tangerine Commerce Park located on Tangerine Farms Road just west of the Tangerine Road freeway interchange. This is the first development within the 100-acre business park that provides a range of retail and employment uses and will be a key location for future employment and retail growth in the Marana area. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Bill Di Vito and Jesse Blum with CBRE’s Tucson office represented Cottonwood in the transaction. Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. was represented by Dev Gupta with DTZ.

“The Tangerine Corridor is an ideal location for this type of development,” said CBRE’s Di Vito. “Freeway access and the availability of larger commercial parcels will attract other logistics and employment users to the area, establishing it as the next major commercial hub in greater Tucson.”

The distribution facility is being designed by Gromatzky Dupree and Associates and construction with Barker Morrissey Contracting is scheduled to start in 4Q 2014 with completion projected for 4Q 2015.

Ventana Medical Systems, Inc., headquartered in Oro Valley, Ariz., is a member of the Roche Group and is a world leader and innovator of tissue-based cancer diagnostic solutions for patients worldwide. At its existing facility, located in the master-planned business community of Innovation Park, Ventana delivers medical diagnostic systems and biopsy-based cancer tests that are shaping the future of healthcare. This new facility will function as a multi-use distribution facility with some assembly to support its facility in Oro Valley.

Tangerine Commerce Park is located just off Interstate-10 on Tangerine Road and is the only mixed-use and industrial development along the quickly developing Tangerine Corridor with direct access to Oro Valley and the bio-tech industries. The park can accommodate uses from smaller 2- to 3-acre requirements up to 100-acre requirements.