PHOENIX-A recently formed, Chicago-based joint venture has entered the market in a dramatic fashion, beating out another bidder in a public auction for a 65-year ground lease on 60 acres of industrially zoned land. The Arizona State Land Department walked away with $21 million from the offering.

The acreage is located at the intersection of Loop 202 and 40th Street near Sky Harbor International Airport. According to Arizona State land commissioner Mark Winkleman, intense bidding drove the land's value from its original $15.64-million appraisal to $21 million. "That was quite a nice increase," Winkleman says.

In the bidding war, Higgins Development Partners LLC and Walton Street Capital LLC beat out a Trammell Crow Co. affiliate, Winkleman tells GlobeSt.com. Plans call for an industrial and flex space development to break ground within two years.

Perry Pinto, principal with Walton Street Capital, says the auction offered the joint venture the opportunity to secure a sizeable parcel for new real estate creation in a vibrant market. "Phoenix is one of our target markets, because of large demand and job growth that's occurring here," he says. Other areas targeted by the partnership include California, Florida and New Jersey. "We're looking for more opportunities in Phoenix as a joint venture and by ourselves as well," he adds.

Winkleman says the land, vacant for years, attracted a great deal of interest because of its location near the airport and at a freeway interchange. "This is a site that's truly an infill site," he says. "It's along a freeway and we don't have many of those. This was a landmark piece we were glad to bring to market."