JV Forms for $15M Industrial Development

PHOENIX-NBS Real Estate Capital and Wentworth Property Co. LLC have joined forces to add more space to the industrial market, buying 11.88 acres for $2.1 million. The build-out plan is a to-be-named, $13-million industrial development with 139,000 sf.

The Portland, OR-based NBS and its local partner acquired the land at the corner of 67th Street and Buckeye Road from KHS Associates and WLP Properties. The upcoming project will target small and mid-size owner-users.

The groundbreaking is scheduled for early 2007. Completion is ticketed for the end of next year.

Rather than building industrial condos that share a wall, the project will consist of eight buildings, ranging from 13,000 sf to 25,000 sf with individual reception areas, offices, private yards and restrooms. The per-unit cost has yet to be set. Kennedy Design Build of Mesa will be both designer and general contractor for the project.

Rance Gregory, CEO with NBS, tells GlobeSt.com that the project has strong fundamentals to support it. "There's a lot of good growth in that area and a demand from smaller owners to have this type of industrial space," he says. "The advantage here is that they'll own their own buildings and land rather than having a shared wall or involved in a condo interest."

Though NBS has individually invested in all types of product throughout the West, Gregory says the Wentworth partnership helps because someone is on the ground and is knowledgeable about the local market. For now, the partnership doesn't have anything else in the pipeline, but Gregory says that hopefully won't be the situation for long. "We formed this with the expectation that this would be the first of many such projects with them," he says. "We're actively looking at other transactions and markets."

The land seller was self-represented while the NBS-Wentworth JV was represented by Pat Harlan and Steve Sayre with Cushman & Wakefield of Arizona Inc.'s Phoenix office. C&W also has been tapped for building sales.