Eric Wichterman, senior vice president with Grubb & Ellis/BRE Commercial, tells GlobeSt.com that five other bidders offered the same price to seller Orsett Properties of Phoenix for Mountain Park Professional Plaza, but it was buyer Dean Callan & Co.'s relationship with Orsett's mortgage company, North Market Capital of Phoenix, that sealed the deal. "There were several competing offers, but they had a relationship with the same mortgage company as the seller and someone who knew them was able to vouch for them which made the seller more comfortable with the deal," said Wichterman.

Orsett, which owns several other properties in the Valley, also cut its original $7.6-million asking price for the buyer after a tenant announced during the negotiations that it would be vacating, Wichterman confided. The new vacancy didn't worry the buyer, however. The five-building at 4350 E. Ray Rd., built in 1995 on two acres in Ahwatukee's prestigious Mountain Park Ranch, is one of the most sought after properties by medical tenants in the Ahwatukee area.

"Mountain Park Ranch is a very stable area with a low vacancy rate for medical offices," said Wichterman, "and it's in an unbelievable location." Bordered on the north by South Mountain and on the east by Interstate 10, the medical office park lies adjacent to the Gila River Indian Reservation to the south, isolating it from competing developments. "It's an attractive building in a very tight area," Wichterman said. He and Stan Schafer, also with Grubb &Ellis/BRE Commercial, represented both parties in the transaction.