130,000-SF ASM HQ Changes Owners

PHOENIX-Following a 12-year hold, Southbank Investments LLC and Caldwell Southbank Real Estate LLC sold a 130,282-square-foot, single-tenant high-tech, research and development building to Canadian buyer Artis Real Estate Investment Trust. Artis paid $19.7 million to the San Fransisco-based seller for the asset, which is the American headquarters and global training center for ASM, a subsidiary of ASM International NV.

According to Mindy Korth with CBRE, the sellers had acquired the building in 2001 from the developer which, in turn, had built the facility at 3440 E. University Dr. in the 300-acre Southbank Business Park as a build-to-suit for ASM, a global semiconductor equipment manufacturer and distributor. Korth and CBRE colleague Barry Gabel represented the selling partners in the transaction.

When ASM moved into the building during the late 1990s, Korth says the space was initially used as an R&D facility and for manufacturing. ASM manufactures and distributes machines to the semiconductor industry for production of wafers.

"But over the years, the facility's usage has shifted so that it now handles R&D and global training," Korth sells GlobeSt.com. "It's the most important R&D facility for ASM worldwide – those trained on the machines come from around the world to this location." ASM remains in the facility through a long-term, triple-net lease.

The property itself was widely marketed with good response even though the asset wasn't your standard industrial/flex caliber. "When I was putting the offering materials together, I was looking for other R&D facilities that had been on the market," Korth says. "It was hard to find similar examples – these types of buildings don't come on the market that frequently."

Artis liked the property enough to offer the winning bid. "They liked the technology aspecdt of it and loved the location," Korth says, adding that Artis has been a long-time investor in the Phoenix region.