Lees Mayfield Advances $200M Mixed-Use Plan

As soon as the first building delivers in late 2008, a second similar-size one will start to rise at the Price Road-Loop 202 intersection. "There hasn't been a lot of office space in Chandler in the past and there is a large demand for multi-tenant office space," says Bob Mayfield, partner with Lees Mayfield Associates. "The one element missing from Chandler's growth is office, but it's coming."

Bryan Taute, senior associate with CB Richard Ellis Inc.'s Phoenix office, tells GlobeSt.com that Chandler Echelon is in a market that has a zero vacancy rate for class A space. "There is just over one million sf of space in that market, with 634,000 sf of that class A," he adds. Taute and CBRE first vice president Luke Walker and senior vice president Brad Anderson are preleasing the project.

About one mile to the north, the Park at San Tan's 220,000-sf office tower, which is still under construction, has a 140,000-sf deal close to the finish line. The mixed-use development, rising at Loop 101 and Ray Road, is the closest competitor and it's 80% preleased to date, according to Taute. He says Chandler's lack of multi-tenant office space isn't because it's an undesirable business destination, but rather its development historically has leaned toward corporate campuses. Chandler Echelon has been designed with smaller tenants in mind.

Multi-tenant office development also was stymied in years past due to the freeways. Taute says last year's completion of Loop 202 and Chandler Fashion Center's opening in 2003 changed the submarket's dynamics by infrastructure and amenities. "With the freeway system in, it's easy for people to get to the airport and other parts of the Valley," Taute says. "That freeway was the last step in Chandler's maturation and we'll likely see a lot of office development in the future. Bob's timing is real good with this. He's the first one out of the ground in the immediate corridor."

Chandler Echelon will include a 150-room Courtyard by Marriott and connected 110-room Fairfield Inn plus nearly 25,000 sf of retail on half-acre to 1.5-acre pad sites for banks, restaurants and other retail. Pad site development will begin this fall. Mayfield says construction on the hospitality component will get under way in late 2007, with an opening planned for the end of 2008.

DFD Cornoyer Hedrick Architects of Phoenix designed Chandler Echelon. The Weitz Co., also from Phoenix, is the general contractor for the office building; the contractor for the hotels has not yet been selected. White Lodging Services of Merrillville, IN will manage the hotels when they come on line.