Building featured in Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ intro sold for $5M

The historic Heard Building in Downtown Phoenix was sold to a California investment firm by One Twelve North Central LLC for $5 million, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

Montana Avenue Capital Partners purchased the property, located at 112 N. Central Ave., in Phoenix. The Heard Building is an eight-story 65,531-square-foot historic office building on Central Avenue between Monroe and Adams Streets.

The building can be seen in the introduction of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 thriller “Psycho,” and when it was constructed in 1919, and finished in 1920 the building was the tallest in Arizona.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Scott Baumgarten and Mark Stratz facilitated the transaction, with the assistance of the capital markets team of Steve Lindley, Bob Buckley, Tracy Cartledge and Ben Geelan.

The building is 38 percent leased and features a poured-in-place concrete structure, operable windows and tremendous natural light.

“The Heard Building is one of a few national historic office buildings available for lease in Arizona, creating strong demand from leading-edge design and technology tenants looking for an authentic, historic space in the heart of downtown Phoenix’s renaissance including hip new restaurants, bars, coffee, sports and entertainment,” said Scott Baumgarten, Vice President at Cushman & Wakefield.

The historic project was conceived and financed by Dwight B. Heard, alongside the Commonwealth Investment company, and the building acted as a headquarters for Heard’s investment and publishing ventures.

The Heard Building will undergo a full exterior and interior renovation.

“Montana Avenue Capital will immediately start a multi-million-dollar renovation to complete the conversion to the highest-quality creative office standards, including all new glazing, upgraded common areas, open tenant spaces, and a local art program both interior and exterior. These improvements will continue to attract design and technology tenants like Booking.com and Winslow + Partners architecture, who have already leased space and were attracted to the Heard Building’s authentic design and light rail accessible location,” said Eric Schultz, vice president of Montana Avenue Capital Partners.