The locally based nonprofit drug counseling agency's headquarters plan calls for a three-story, 45,000-sf office building, with an $8-million price tag, to be ready to go by September 2005. Southwest Behavioral operates more than 40 different sites in the Valley and chose the headquarters site, directly adjacent to the 312,000-sf Phoenix Financial Center office building--for its central location.

"We looked all over the Valley for where we wanted to be. This was a good central location," Gordon Raguse, a senior vice president with Grubb & Ellis/BRE Commercial of Phoenix, tells GlobeSt.com. "This was originally excess parking. It was always geared for another office building."

Southwest Behavioral paid all cash to Phoenix Financial LLC for the land, which is three blocks from its existing headquarters at 3707 N. Seventh St. Raguse says construction financing will be needed to raise the three-story headquarters building designed with one level of underground parking. McCormick Construction Co. of Burbank, CA, has been tapped as the general contractor, with architectural designs by Arvid Johnson Associates of Phoenix.

Meanwhile, Southwest Behavioral is readying for renovations to an early 1990s building at 4420 S. 32nd St., near Sky Harbor International Airport. The organization anticipates a mid-June move-in. "They rented space in two buildings so we decided to combine two of the clinics into one space," Raguse says.

The building previously was marketed by the owner, Case Properties LP of Phoenix, for lease for about one month. Raguse helped arrange an off-market deal between the owner and Southwest, with escrow lasting 60 days.

Raguse represented both parties in the uptown land purchase and Southwest Behavioral in the building purchase. Andy Markham, Mike Haenel and Marc Tuite with Grubb & Ellis/BRE Commercial's industrial group represented Case Properties.

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Nonprofit Closes Back-to-Back Buys

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