In one of the largest Arizona real estate transactions of 2015, Centrica, an adaptive reuse project by Phoenix Rising Investments, LLC (PRI) signed a 10-year lease for their entire 117,000 square foot project. Banco Santander’s US Consumer group subsidiary, Santander Consumer USA Holdings, Inc, will move into Centrica in the New Year, netting Mesa’s Fiesta District almost 1,000 new jobs. Banco Santander is a retail and commercial global bank, with a presence in 10 main markets, 102 million customers, and approximately 14,700 branches—more than any other international bank—and 193,000 employees. Santander Consumer USA Holdings, Inc (NYSE: SC, “Santander Consumer USA”) is a publicly traded, full-service, technology-driven consumer finance company, specializing in auto finance and unsecured consumer lending products.
PRI, along with Legacy Equity Partners, collaborated with an award winning team to develop the back office facility located in the heart of the Southeast Valley, with excellent transportation access, including seven bus stops within a quarter mile and two bus stops within 50 feet of the property. Willmeng Construction Inc. and Nelsen Partners designed the environmentally conscious state-of-the-art project with abundant parking and redundant fiber optic backbone connectivity. Evolution Design and Willmeng Construction will complete the build out of modern and creative tenant improvements. “The trend for creative space is not going away,” said Ryan Bartos, Managing Director of Savills Studley who was involved in the transaction. “Most people associate creative office with technology and creative type firms. That is not the case anymore and Santander is a great example of that. With 20 foot high exposed ceilings, open floor plates, and walkable amenities, Santander felt that Centrica gave them a great opportunity to attract and retain the necessary talent base. This was a huge win for the City of Mesa.”
More than a million people reside within a 10-mile radius of Centrica. With the addition of Centrica, and a $25.3 million investment by the City of Mesa into the Streetscape along Southern Avenue, adjacent to Centrica, The Fiesta District has become a target destination for major companies.
“The area’s walkability, mass transit access, abundant freeway accessibility, redundant fiber network, and proximity to a workforce of more than 1.7 million people within a 20-minute drive, make it an ideal location for high-tech and multinational companies such as Santander,” said Michael Hsiung, Principal of Phoenix Rising Investments, LLC the developer and owner of Centrica.
