Dealmakers Lure Staples To Plaza's Theater Spot

The 190,677-sf Campbell Plaza, located on 11 acres in the 2800 block of North Campbell Avenue, is 76.5% leased with the new deal. Staples' 10-year lease backfills a long-dark theater. The quoted rate is $18 per sf, triple net, but "the Staples deal is a turnkey operation and delivery so it's a different animal," says Nancy McClure, first vice president with CB Richard Ellis' Tucson office. She and CBRE associate Shannon Murphy represented the center's owner, Camelback Corporate Center Joint Venture LLC, which has corporate offices in Phoenix and Tucson.

McClure adds the deal includes substantial tenant improvements. "This has relatively deep space and we're squaring it off," she says.

McClure tells GlobeSt.com that Staples is expected to open a second Tucson location in 2009, but that's all she can say at this stage. Greg Laing with Phoenix Commercial Advisors Inc., Staples' local broker, says he can't discuss the retailer's planned store count for the market due to a confidentiality clause in the brokerage agreement.

McClure says the goal has been to reposition the 1970s-built Campbell Plaza to attract new tenants. She says negotiations are under way between the owner and a junior box retailer to take down more space.

"The significant vacancy prompted the owner to take a good look at the center and how to make it work," McClure explains. "When we took it over, we made some suggestions and the ownership was game." She continues the Staples lease and the hoped-for junior anchor were the result of the recommendations, which also include some re-tenanting. "This is a great piece of property near the center of town," McClure says. "Hopefully very soon, it will be closer to fully occupied."