"This is their first buy in Phoenix… they found it verydifficult to make a purchase in California that made sense forthem, so they came to Phoenix where there are buyingopportunities," says David Fogler, SVP of Grubb & Ellis-BRECommercial LLC, who represented Leo Ventures in the transactionalong with Steve Nicoluzakis.

Fogler tells GlobeSt.com that Hope of Montebella expects togenerate some upside from improving the property's operations. "Thebuyer looked at the complex as a combination of providing a decentcashflow and a good opportunity for them to go in and run itdifferently and create some value--they're going to manage theproperty themselves and that's where they feel the opportunity is,"he says. He adds that Leo Ventures found it increasingly difficultto managethe property from London.

According to Fogler, the buyer "liked the location and theattractive price per unit for the quality of the asset." The221,720-sf courtyard-style complex sold for roughly $39,500 perunit. It offers 80 two-bedroom units and 20 one-bedroom units. Theaverage unit sizeis 700 sf, and the average rental rate is $600 permonth.