The sale is an example of the shift in buyer focus to secure, single-tenant properties, Paul Boyle, senior vice president with the Phoenix office of Grubb & Ellis Co., tells GlobeSt.com. He says 35% to 45% of his business is dedicated to finding buyers who once would have sought multi-tenant buildings but are now lured by the security of properties with one solid, credit tenant.

The Peoria Avenue building is a product of some serious upgrades, both by the seller, Phoenix-based Biltmore Holdings, and the tenant, the Bryman School. Biltmore purchased the mid-1970s building at the end of the 1990s and immediately undertook a refurbishment. Then, the Bryman School invested more than $2.6 million for interior improvements.

Boyle says Biltmore purchased the building with the intent to sell it after it was refurbished and leased. It was on the market for 45 days, generating a fair amount of interest, he continues. The original asking price was $5.4 million. Boyle and Grubb & Ellis senior associate Rick Danis handled both sides of the sale.

Boyle says the school's lease runs through 2008 with an option to exit in 2006. Boyle believes the school's contentment with the property and its financial investment will keep the educational facility in place for years to come.

Phoenix-based High-Tech Institute Inc. is the owner of the Bryman School, one of 10 in a nationwide portfolio of educational facilities. The Bryman School offers job training for such professions as medical and dental assistant, radiology technician, hospital unit coordinator, massage therapist and surgical technologist.