The San Francisco-based investment group, a subsidiary of Liberty International PLC, one of the largest publicly traded property companies in the United Kingdom, captured the keys to the 44,370-sf fitness center at 13220 N. Scottsdale Rd. at a price tag just shy of seller New Plan Excel Realty Trust's $7.9-million asking price. "We had multiple offers," Cliff Johnston with Grubb & Ellis Co.'s Phoenix office tells GlobeSt.com, noting that the building's high cap rate was a key factor in the fierce fight over the facility's ownership. At least six investors skirmished over the property, Johnston said, but in the end, Capital & Counties USA was the sole holdout.

For seller New Plan Excel Realty Trust, the sale was the second of its 24 Hour Fitness holdings in Phoenix since November when a sister property, located at 3233 E. Camelback Rd. in Phoenix, was sold to Nevada-based Lako LP for $7.2 million.

Johnston said the New York-based REIT, one of the largest in the nation with more than 390 properties in 35 states, divested of the pair of health clubs as part of an effort to prune its holdings. "These are triple-net, single-tenant, special-use properties that don't fit into their model," Johnston said of the seller, a traditional investor in multi-tenant shopping centers.

Johnston, along with Dennis Desmond, with Dallas-based Trammell Crow Co.'s Phoenix office, represented the seller in the Scottsdale health club deal. The buyer was assisted by David Lynch with Lynch Properties of San Francisco.