Desert Vista Apartments LP, the buyer of record, put up $883,500 for the southeast corner of 67th Avenue and Cactus Road. A HUD loan is backing the development, Mark Forrester of Phoenix-based Hendricks & Partners tells GlobeSt.com. He represented the land seller, Central DeAnza LLC of Newport Beach, CA. Linda Salazar with Scottsdale's Marlin Commercial Brokers represented the buyers.

Forrester says the property was not on the market long before it fell under contract. The buyer put in an offer that was "very close" to the listing price, he points out. Of course, the small tract was a rare find in that it's a prime candidate for development. There simply aren't many multifamily-zoned tracts on the market these days due to the construction slowdown for the product type. The new complex, he believes, will be a niche project that most likely will benefit from excellent timing on the deliver and its size.

Multifamily construction is practically at a standstill these days. The forecast is that less than 3,000 units will to come to market in the next two years--and with good reason in some submarkets. As it stands right now, the Glendale submarket has a vacancy of 9.6%, with the average rent bringing $555 per month.