An entity of Flagstaff, AZ-based investors Leo Crowley and Roy Gardner paid $7.9 million for the 48,731-sf retail center. Jeffrey Teetsel, a local manager with the lender, Fremont Investment & Loan, tells GlobeSt.com the buyers plan to turn tenants in the 91% leased project, build up rents and sell it off at a profit in three to five years.

The duo borrowed $5.9 million for the acquisition. The floating-rate loan can be repaid without penalties in year three through five of the five-year-term. Scott McPherson and Eric Inabinet of the Phoenix-based Capital Advisory Group arranged the financing.The seller is Cole Cos., which acquired the property in 1996. Teetsel says Cole Cos. realized significant value in the property since buying it. Steve Cook and Jeff Levine with Escee Commercial Properties brokered the sale.

There are 21 current tenants in the building, says Teetsel, and none of them occupy more than 4,500 sf. The largest tenants include a pro golf shop, Kids Stop Learning Center and AJO Al's Mexican Restaurant. The total size of the project was not immediately available. Tenants are currently paying on average $18.50 per sf per year triple net. Teetsel says certain suites in the shopping center could command rents of up to $20.00 per sf annually. Additionally, he notes that competing properties in the area are leasing in the mid- to low-twenties per sf yearly.