Sellers John and Gael Pardi of Oakland, CA are using theproceeds from 2000 E. Southern Ave. in Tempe to satisfyrequirements of a 1031 exchange. The Pardis' broker Eric Wichtermanof the Phoenix office of Grubb & Ellis Co. gets the credit forthe deal, pulling together a group of investors to buy the Pardis'Tempe asset. He tells GlobeSt.com that he formed the group withowners from an abutting similarly sized medical office building.The 2000 Plaza LLC, with ties to Mesa, ended up the buyer of recordfor the fully leased, four-tenant holding. The building is flankedby other medical office product. Wichterman and Stan Shafer, alsoof Grubb & Ellis, represented the building owners while thebuyers spoke for themselves.

Wichterman says the trading volume is somewhat slow these days.The metro Phoenix market is attracting value-add buyers, mainlylooking for buildings with vacancy issues, and stable buyersseeking well-occupied, market-value product. Wichterman says thevast majority of buildings trading right now are stable,well-occupied buildings.

One problem in the metro market is that sellers just aren'tgiving out large discounts despite the economy. Low-occupancyproperties are riding out the storm, with owners waiting for aleasing surge before heading to the open market. That, saysWichterman, could take up to a year or even as long as 18 monthsbefore the properties are marketed. He agrees with others thatsellers seem more unrealistic than buyers right now.