186,000-SF Ground-Breaking Imminent

The two-building distribution project will come out as spec and deliver in the third quarter. But, there's no cause for alarm, says Jeff Conrad, principal of Lee & Associates Arizona in Phoenix. "Based up on the very solid activity and deal volume of phase one, we feel we will be pretty close to full, if not full, in that timeframe," he tells GlobeSt.com. "We want to have product ready." Phase II will practically mirror the 302,000-sf first phase, which is 33% leased and more deals in the pipeline.

A "from the ground up" Phoenix team is handling the project for EJM. Dickinson Architects is the designer; D.L. Withers Construction, the general contractor; and Gilmore Graves Inc., the landscape architect.

Before the year's out, EJM expects to break ground on a two-building third phase. The 19th & Pinnacle Peak Commerceplex has 22 acres dedicated to the first phase, 12 1/2 acres for the second phase and 25 more waiting for the next two development stages, an inside source tells GlobeSt.com. But, it's the fourth phase, the source confides, that could bring a change in direction for the developer. Retail has been tossed onto the talking table as an option for a premier corner tract at the intersection of 19th Avenue and Pinnacle Peak Road.

The phase II work will bring buildings of 81,000 sf and 105,000 sf in a submarket that is a strong competitor now that the freeway network runs into Deer Valley. Conrad says rent is running 25% to 40% less than Scottsdale Airpark, the primary competitor for EJM's product. Conrad and Matt Hobaica, also a Lee & Associates principal, are the developer's leasing team.

"There's not much competition for what we have going up there," Hobaica says. That boils down to distribution buildings boasting dock-high amenities for the industrial crowd.

EJM's Pinnacle Peak Commerceplex is positioned less than two miles from its 23rd and Lone Cactus project, a similar product developed about four years ago. More than 203,000 sf and, says Hobaica, it's filled to the brim–another reason for EJM to push ahead on another spec project for its Deer Valley land. The end goal, concurs Thom Blumer and Fred Stiles of EJM's Arizona office, is "to be the first name that comes to mind when a tenant in Phoenix or Las Vegas is looking for high-quality, flexible workspace in the 5,000 sf to 100,000 sf range."