Chris Toci of the Phoenix office of Cushman & Wakefield of Arizona Inc. tells GlobeSt.com that favorable financing enabled a private equity investor like Hardaway to get into the property for just over $1 million. Toci says in-place financing allowed the buyer to leverage a good return plus diversify his portfolio.

Toci and Tim Whittemore, also of Cushman & Wakefield, negotiated the sale for buyer and seller, Birtcher-Simms Associates LLC of Phoenix. The property never hit the market.

Birtcher-Simms represents the Birtcher Family Trust, which bought the property shortly after the building was constructed in 1999, using a 1031 exchange to take the deed. Toci says sale proceeds will be used to purchase single-tenant, triple net leases. The trust owns multiple properties in and around the airport, Scottsdale Airpark and Interstate 17.

Hardaway's new buy is located in the 300-acre Arizona Business Park, which spans Interstate 17 between Greenway and Bell roads. The building is entirely leased to Rockwell Automation and Belae Brands. Toci says the park boasts a tenant roster of such well-known names as Honeywell, Bank One, University of Phoenix and Triwest Health Care.

Toci says the sale represents the groundswell of liquidity sitting on the sidelines as investors retreat from Wall Street and return to real estate. Buyers, such as pension funds, will pay somewhat more for properties in order to meet their allocations, he says.