In the coming months, the developer plans to invest an additional $5 million to $6 million on infrastructure improvements to the property, located at the southeast corner of 7th Street and Deer Valley Road. The lots could be marketed to commercial developers as early as summer 2006. The resale price for the lots has yet to be determined, but it is certain that tracts as small as 40,000 sf will be available.

Bob Lundstedt, senior vice president of Colliers Classic's Phoenix office, says the buyer had been chasing the land deal about a year. "We'd sold Namwest 22 acres last year [at Pinnacle Peak and Deer Valley Roads], then told them that [Carl] Spiekerman was going to be selling this 80 acres," says Lundstedt, who with colleagues Jim Keeley and Darren Tappen, represented the buyer. "Namwest immediately jumped on it and made an offer." John Werstler at CB Richard Ellis Inc.'s Phoenix office represented the seller.

Lundstedt tells GlobeSt.com that the seller, from Newport Beach, CA, received several offers on the property and actually had accepted another offer that never made it to escrow. "I think, in the end, the seller picked this group [Namwest] because of its capabilities," he says. "Namwest is an extremely hands-on developer. This isn't an easy project. It involves a lot of topography issues and a lot of engineering issues."

Lundstedt says Spiekerman, who had acquired the property a little more than a year ago, ended up making $9 million on the deal. "Based on the market, Namwest got this land for a great price," Lundstedt adds. "You simply can't find anything in Deer Valley these days for less than $13 per sf."

Other Namwest developments are office condominiums at 101 Plaza North; Ray Office Condominiums at 44th Avenue and Ray Road; and Hayden Harbour at Temple Town Lake in Tempe.