US Bank Assists in Canadian Buy

PHOENIX-U.S. Bank has closed on two loans, totaling more than $31 million, for Artis, a Winnipeg, Canada-based REIT, to acquire two office buildings in the Phoenix area: ASM America Headquarters Building and North Scottsdale Corporate Center II.

“The REIT model continues to expand globally, and Canadian companies are a major player in the space,” said John Besse, EVP of commercial real estate for U.S. Bank. “We're pleased to expand our relationship with Artis, a highly-respected firm with whom we've provided financing to acquire five properties across the country since the start of 2011.”

North Scottsdale Corporate Center II, located at 6811 East Mayo Boulevard in North Scottsdale, was built in 2007 and currently home to Choice Hotels, the second-largest hotelier in the U.S., as well as Axway, Inc. and IPRO Tech Inc. U.S. Bank provided a $21.2 million loan for Artis' $38.6 million acquisition of the four-story, 152,629 square-foot building.

ASM America Headquarters Building, located at 3440 East University Drive in Phoenix, was built in 1997 to be the U.S. headquarters for the Dutch company ASM International N.V., which is among the top global suppliers of semiconductor production equipment. ASM will remain the anchor tenant in the 130,282 square-foot building. U.S. Bank provided a $9.8 million loan for Artis' $19.8 million acquisition.

“Phoenix is one of our key target markets in the U.S.  We are very pleased to add attractive and well-located properties with solid tenant covenants such as North Scottsdale Corporate Center II and ASM America Headquarters Building to our growing portfolio in this market,” said Armin Martens, CEO for Artis.

Artis is a diversified Canadian real estate investment trust investing in office, industrial and retail properties. Since 2004, Artis has executed an aggressive but disciplined growth strategy, building a portfolio of commercial properties in Canada and the United States, with a major focus on Western Canada. As of today's date, Artis' commercial property comprises over 24.8 million square feet of leasable area in 233 properties.

U.S. Bank Commercial Real Estate specializes in providing creative credit and non-credit financial solutions for real estate developers, REITs, and commercial property owners across the United States. U.S. Bank offers such services as construction/development lending, property acquisition lending, refinancing, lines of credit, and syndications. With an employee base of 400 professionals in 26 offices, U.S. Bank Commercial Real Estate builds long-term relationships designed to help American businesses grow.

Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp, with $353 billion in assets as of June 30, is the parent company of U.S. Bank National Association, the fifth-largest commercial bank in the United States. The company operates 3,080 banking offices in 25 states and 5,085 ATMs and provides a comprehensive line of banking, brokerage, insurance, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services products to consumers, businesses and institutions.