Larry Downey and Jerry Jacobs, executive director and seniordirector, respectively for Cushman & Wakefield of Arizona Inc.in Phoenix, represented Western Refining in the transaction for1250 W. Washington St. The brokers would not reveal the final rent,but the asking rate in the 96,000-sf building is $27 per sfannually, which would give the deal a total value of about $17.5million. The average rent for class A space in the Tempe submarketis $25.67 per sf, according to the third-quarter report from Grubb& Ellis Co.

The building, completed in November, is phase three of PapagoButtes Corporate Plaza, a 436,996-sf complex developed and owned byPrincipal Global Investors of Des Moines and Phoenix-based MetroCommercial Properties. The first two phases are fully leased.Michael Beall, Kathy Gibbs and Chris Walker, also with Cushman& Wakefield, represent the owner of the complex, which is inthe 522-acre Papago Park Center business park.

Downey tells GlobeSt.com that he showed 20 buildings in variousPhoenix submarkets to Western Refining's executives during thecourse of the space search. "It was very competitive," he says."This is a major corporate tenant that is essentially new toPhoenix and in an expansion mode. Landlords were very eager to landthis deal and competed aggressively to bring them in."