CBRE has been awarded the marketing assignment for the +/- 800,000 SF office portion of Liberty Center at Rio Salado, the ±1 million-square-foot, mixed-used project being developed by Liberty Property Trust. The ±100 acre property will focus on high-performance buildings with a sustainable design at the northwest corner of Rio Salado Parkway and Priest Drive in Tempe, Ariz.
Construction is already underway, with completion of the first speculative building, a two-story 155,000-square-foot, class A office building, slated for mid-year. The building, located at 1850 W. Rio Salado Parkway, is designed to achieve LEED Silver certification. CBRE has begun marketing Building One for lease, as well as other land parcels within the business park for build-to-suit opportunities. The state-of-the-art mixed use development project is expected to pique the interest of major companies looking at metro Phoenix as a place to locate or expand operations, due to its central location, highly educated labor pool and immediate access to Mill Avenue amenities in downtown Tempe.
“The currently-under-construction 1850 building at Liberty Center will offer a large block of existing space that will be unmatched in terms of location and quality,” said CBRE’s Brad Anderson, who along with Michael Strittmatter, will head up the marketing team for the project. “There is an increasing shortage of large blocks of quality contiguous space across metro Phoenix. Liberty Property Trust recognizes the need for quality options for users and the development of Liberty Center will help meet that need.”
“Liberty Center at Rio Salado is our largest project to date in Arizona, and the selection of CBRE to manage the marketing for the office portion of the park is an exciting step as we get underway,” said John DiVall, senior vice president for Liberty Property Trust’s Arizona region. “This park will provide work environments that will make a difference in the quality of people’s lives, through our commitment to sustainability, as well as through design that promotes productivity and innovation.”
In concert with Building One, Liberty is building a formal entrance as well as installing significant infrastructure to serve the entire park in anticipation of announcing the development of a second building by year’s end. The first building is part of Phase I, which will eventually include seven office buildings and one industrial building. Plans for Phase II, which will be located at the northeast corner of Priest and Rio Salado, include a hotel, retail and additional office buildings. At build-out, Liberty Center at Rio Salado will feature more than one million square feet of space. All buildings will be designed to meet LEED certification.
