Original Article from the Business Real Estate Weekly of Arizona.
Tempe – W-EH ECC Owner VI LLC, a joint venture formed by Chicago, Ill.-based Walton Street Capital LLC (Perry Pinto, et al., principals) and Everest Holdings in Scottsdale (Joe Blackbourn, principal), paid $23.5 million ($105.20 per foot) to acquire a 223,392-square-foot office project at 875 E. Elliot Road in Tempe. The sellers were ARI – ECC LLC, and 28 related companies formed by tenant in common investors headed by the defunct Argus Realty Investors of San Juan Capistrano, Calif. (Richard Gee, CEO). The deal was brokered by Jim Fijan of CBRE in Phoenix.
The two-story project, called Elliot Corporate Center, is fully occupied by three tenants. The University of Phoenix is the anchor tenant, taking 162,000 sq. ft. Records show the Walton Street/Everest Holdings entity acquired Elliot Corporate Center with a $18 million loan from Cornerstone Enhanced Mortgage Fund 1 REIT LLC. The B class Tempe office project was built in 1998.
In November 2004, BREW reported the group of tenant in common companies headed by Argus Realty Investors companies paying $32.9 million ($147.27 per foot) to acquire Elliot Corporate Center. Argus Realty Investors merged with Thompson National Properties LLC in Costa Mesa, Calif. in 2008 and the Argus name was retired. The Tempe investment is the third for the Walton-Everest venture in the Phoenix area.
In May, BREW reported a company formed by Walton and Everest paying $12.2 million ($76.10 per foot) to acquire 160,313 sq. ft. of back-office space located within the Tempe Commerce Park in Tempe. Walton Street Capital is a private equity real estate investment firm with $6.5 billion of equity either invested or committed in 230+ properties. Over the years, BREW has reported Everest Holdings buying hospitality, residential land, multi-family and office properties in the Phoenix area. Blackbourn says the company is interested in additional value-added investment opportunities in the Valley . . . likes office, back-office and industrial assets.