Voit Plans to Step Up Area Investments

PHOENIX-Buoyed by 293-acre sale to Indianapolis, IN-based Duke Realty Corp. last month, Voit Development Co. of Woodland Hills, CA expects to step up its investments here in the coming months.

In a previous GlobeSt.com article, the land and infrastructure costs were pegged at $55 million. However, area real estate sources place the price for the land alone at $36 million or $122,867 per acre and $2.82 per sf. Voit purchased the dirt in September 2005 at the northeast corner of Cotton Lane and US Highway 85 near Interstate 10 in suburban Goodyear, about 20 minutes west of Downtown Phoenix.

Voit didn’t disclose its original purchase price, but Phoenix area retail sources say it was $24.4 million or $82,276 per acre and $1.92 per sf. In a prepared statement, Tom Kimsey, vice president and regional manager of Voit Development, acknowledges the sale brought his company “a strong profit” after only 13 months of owning the land. That return on invested cash turns out to be a gross profit of 48%, sources familiar with the deal tell GlobeSt.com.

Voit has been a development player in Phoenix, Mesa, Scottsdale, Anthem, Tramonto and Goodyear for 12 years, developing sites for numerous corporate owners. Now, Kimsey says, Voit “intends to invest heavily in this market and to be one of the major real estate players here.” Kimsey didn’t disclose the dollar size of his firm’s anticipated investment. However, he says the firm’s growth will be noted by large deals similar to the 293-acre land sale. “We’re just getting started,” he says.

Voit Development is part of the Voit Cos., founded in 1971 and an active participant in California commercial real estate’s arena for 35 years. The company’s other divisions include Voit Commercial Brokerage and Valley Commercial Contractors.