Two years ago, the partners had paid $2.3 million for the three-story building at 2120 N. Central Ave., pumping $4 million into upgrades and setting into motion a concerted leasing effort. The 87,900-sf building in the city's midtown is now 93% occupied and solely in the hands of its one-time leasing agent. The price equates to about $104 per sf.

The city's midtown area is among the Valley's poorest performing submarkets. A Central Avenue address is no longer coveted as office tenants flock to 24th Street and Camelback, downtown, north Scottsdale and other suburbs. The midtown vacancy rate is pushing 16% although a considerable amount of space is on a sublease basis. In comparison, the Valley's overall office vacancy rate is about 10%.

"Midtown is a little unstable right now, but like everything else it will go through a pendulum and change," Gary Jestadt, a principal with Scottsdale Property Management, tells GlobeSt.com. "If it goes like everything else it will cycle."