Fred Darche, principal of Phoenix-based Lee & Associates Arizona, tells GlobeSt.com that the university looked at available office space and even considered a build-to-suit along the decision-making path. Then with 15 months to go on a 10-year lease, the university signed for another decade. The new lease is valued at $27.5 million over its term.

As all in Phoenix can attest, the university's 227,034 sf in three buildings offer great visibility. "There is a tremendous sense of identity associated with those buildings," says Darche. He represented the building owners, Columbus-based Nationwide Realty Investors. Bill Swirtz of Phoenix's Apollo Development Group bargained the renewal on behalf of the university, the largest accredited, private university in the world. It has campuses in 116 cities nationwide plus offers on-line courses.

In the past eight years, the university has grown considerably. "They started with a fourth of their current space," Darche says. It also leases another 75,000 sf at the nearby Compass Center for its on-line operation. "It is nice to have a local tenant continuously growing in the market," says Darche.

The three-building, 320,000-sf Hohokam Towers were built in two phases in 1985 and 1989. Darche says they are 100% leased.