Churchill Commercial Capital, Inc. (Cynthia Hammond, CMB, president) arranged equity financing through ABR Chesapeake Fund IV, a value-added real estate fund sponsored by Baltimore-based Alex Brown Realty Inc. (“ABR”) for the acquisition of Papago Plaza. The center was sold in early September to Papago Marketplace, LLC for $12.5 million.
This 106,000 SF neighborhood shopping center occupies 10+ acres in a key location at the southwest corner of Scottsdale Road at McDowell Road. Papago Plaza is strategically located in between Tempe and downtown Scottsdale, in the heart of an area seeing intense new residential and commercial development referred to as the McDowell Corridor. The new owners plan a complete renovation which will transform the center into a modern project with a contemporary design. Once remodeled, the center will include new shops and retail pads designed to provide desired retail amenities for the neighborhood.
Papago Plaza was developed in 1959 as Frontier Town Plaza, and later remodeled into its present Pueblo inspired architecture in 1988. The planned renovation will serve as the retail catalyst for the McDowell Corridor redevelopment. The highly successful SkySong – the ASU Center for Innovation campus located across Scottsdale Road has provided the commercial catalyst, with 1.2 million square feet of office, research, education, hotel, multifamily and limited retail uses planned. Its three office buildings are fully leased to companies whose tenancy is reported to compose people from 23 separate countries. Over 1,700 new multifamily units are to be delivered within 1 mile of Papago Plaza, with over 1,000 units within walking distance.
Churchill Commercial Capital represented the developer in sourcing financing and secured ABR as an equity partner with the vision to understand the opportunity borne of the rapid demographic shift toward younger and more affluent residents occurring in the neighborhood.
Churchill is a 21 year old regional commercial mortgage banker actively arranging loans and joint venture equity for commercial and multifamily properties. Established in 1994, Churchill’s investor relationships include major life insurance companies, multifamily agency lenders, specialty finance companies, investment banks, and select banks making portfolio loans. Churchill locally services loans on behalf of its correspondent lenders.
