"It's all about timing the market," says Jay Hoselton, a senior director of Cushman & Wakefield of Arizona Inc., who represented Arizona Business Bank in the lease negotiations at all four locations. "The bank is taking advantage of the market and the low rental rates by signing new leases well in advance of the expiration date of its current lease."

Arizona Business Bank will move in August 2006 to 2600 N. Central Ave., a month after its 18,000-sf lease expires at 2700 N. Central Ave. The bank, part of Denver-based CoBiz Inc., will occupy the entire top floor of the 20-story, class B building and street-level retail space. Built in 1982, 2600 N. Central Ave. is a 323,607-sf mid-rise building located in the Midtown submarket. It is roughly 50% occupied.

Hoselton tells GlobeSt.com that he worked with Arizona Business Bank more than a year before the bank made its decisions. "They liked the new building and the economics were better," Hoselton says. Trammell Crow Co. represented building owner, Woodland Hills, CA-based Adler Realty Investments.

Arizona Business Bank's new locations are located throughout the Valley. It recently opened a 4,590-sf branch at 3200 E. Camelback Rd. in Phoenix and will light 5,139 sf this month at 1757 E. Baseline Rd. in Gilbert. In April, a 4,500-sf branch will open at 2727 W. Frye Rd. in Chandler. The Phoenix and Chandler branches are located in multi-tenant office buildings while the Gilbert location is a freestanding building, Hoselton says. Arizona Business Bank operates five full-service commercial banks in metropolitan Phoenix.