Whitestone REIT (“Whitestone”), a fully integrated real estate company that owns, operates and re-develops Community Centered Properties, welcomed new tenants Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Arizona Properties, Carefree Movement and KT Financial at the Pima Norte property located just north of Scottsdale, Ariz., in the Carefree and nearby Cave Creek area.
Pima Norte, an executive office and financial services focused property, is home to a very strong base of tenants including Heaton Adams Financial, Hundman Law Office, Gilbraltar Mortgage Company, Oz Directional Drilling and Ticket Evolution. Pima Norte is well located at the base of Desert Mountain between the inviting towns of Carefree and Cave Creek where household incomes in neighboring gated communities Mirabel, The Boulders and Whisper Rock are over $275,000.
Whitestone’s Chairman and CEO, James C. Mastandrea said, “We entered the Phoenix market in 2007 with the acquisition of the newly constructed Pima Norte giving us a foothold in the greater Phoenix market. We consider Pima Norte a very well-constructed property in a great location, only to find it challenged in the downturn in 2007. We set our foundation at this property as we prepared to purchase additional properties at or near the bottom of the market to position Whitestone as the market turned.” Mastandrea added, “We continued to lease Pima Norte as we acquired an additional two million square feet, at steep discounts to replacement cost during the downturn. Today, we have a leading position in the market with properties that include Dana Park in Mesa and Market Street in DC Ranch.” Mastandrea concluded, “Since our IPO in August, 2010, we considered all the cash flow from Pima Norte as accretive to FFO and with the addition of our new tenants, we will increase both occupancy and FFO. We expect the leasing momentum at Pima Norte to continue at an increasing rate in the next 24 months with a positive impact on our enterprise value per share.”
