The three-story, class A suburban structure has 146,700 sf. The seller, Carlye Realty of Newport Beach, CA had a presale agreement with the building's developer Opus West. The structure was completed a little over a year ago, after the successful sale of Gainey Center I.

Jim Fijan of the Phoenix office of CB Richard Ellis negotiated the transaction on behalf of both the buyer and seller, but was not immediately available for comment. His partner Jerry Roberts of the Phoenix office of CB Richard Ellis tells GlobeSt.com that Carlye's strategy in the Phoenix market is to team up with developers on office buildings through pre-sale agreements, purchase the buildings upon construction completion, lease the buildings and then sell them at a profit. This formula has worked successfully with both buildings.

The difference between Gainey Center I and II, according to Roberts, is that MSB got wind of Carlye's plans and made an offer on Gainey Center II before it went to market. Roberts says the building was 85% leased at the time of the sale, and sold for slightly less per sf than Gainey Center I. The difference was chocked up to having a bird or buyer in hand.

Roberts couldn't quote a cap rate as the vacant space kept it from being a pure cap rate deal. He did say that the purchase was an excellent long-term investment for MSB, because the building's Scottsdale address combined with its inclusion in the adjacent Gainey Ranch community, gives it the ability to command some of the highest rents in the city. Roberts says the building routinely gets $28 to $30 per sf and with only $7 per sf in expenses, the building has one of the highest net rents in town at $23 per sf triple net.

This coupled with the long-term five- and ten-year leases some of the building's largest tenants have signed, made the facility extremely attractive to MSB, a buyer Roberts said was already sold on the Scottsdale office market. Anchor tenants include e-Funds, UBS PaineWebber and Physician's Choice.