PHOENIX-A group of private local investors has paid $3 million for a 30,183-sf call center building that it intends to convert into specialized biotech lab space. The building will be primarily occupied by Ribomed Biotechnologies Inc., founded by the chief investor's son, according to Grubb & Ellis/BRE Commercial LLC broker Shawn Greenway.

Buyer Phoenix Biotechnology Accelerator LLC marked its first Phoenix-area commercial building with the acquisition of 714 W. Van Buren St. "It's essentially an owner-user type of deal," says Greenway, who represented the buyer.

Greenway tells GlobeSt.com that the new owners are seeking to circumvent the high cost of building biotech lab space from the ground up by converting the existing facility, which was built in the 1970s and expanded in 1989. "They will get it done for $80 to $100 per sf, which is about $100 per sf cheaper than building from the ground up," he says. Ribomed had been looking for suitable conversion space for two years before zeroing in on the World Travel Inns Ltd. LP VIII property, he adds.

While Ribomed, which plans to move into the space in February 2005, will occupy most of the building, 5,000 sf to ,000 sf will be available for another biotech tenant willing to share common lab facilities like autoclaves, freezer space and sinks, according to Greenway.

The building had "gone in and out of escrow a few times," Greenway says. "A lot of people were thinking about scrapping the building and redeveloping it."