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PEORIA, AZ-Working through a loan assumption challenge, a buyer from Lake Havasu, AZ has snagged a 31,858-sf shopping center in the northwest Valley for $8.3 million. The buyer managed to slide in under the ask by $200,000, beating four other offers placed during the 45-day marketing period.

Jeff Harris with Retail Brokers Inc. in Phoenix says SLD Properties Ltd. was selected to buy Fletcher Heights Plaza because it was willing to assume a 10-year, fixed-rate loan from Wells Fargo. "They had a pickup of around $4 million and came in with about $3.8 million in cash," he tells GlobeSt.com. "The seller carried back about $500,000 so basically he had the cash to commit to the deal."

The two-year-old center at 8279 W. Lake Pleasant Parkway was sold by Fletcher Heights Plaza LLC of nearby Scottsdale. The seller bought the asset one year ago for $6.3 million. Since then, shop space occupancy has reached 100% occupancy and all but one pad site of 1,544 sf has been taken.

The shopping center is positioned near the Fletcher Heights master-planned community, a fast-growing pocket that accounted for the interest when the listing hit the market, according to Harris. The main tenant is Ace Hardware, which leases about 2,189 sf with a five-year lease that expires in 2009. Other tenants include Super Suppers and a Learning Foundation franchise. Nearby retailers are a Safeway store, Wells Fargo and Walgreens.

Bob Pearlstein of CB Richard Ellis' Phoenix office represented the buyer. Retailer Brokers Inc. will continue to lease and manage the shopping center.

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