Dealmaker: Equus and iStar Acquire Arizona Offices for $53M

October 23, 2017

An Equus Capital Partners/iStar joint venture acquired McDowell Mountain Business Park in Scottsdale, Ariz. from RAIT Financial Trust for $53.1 million.

McDowell Mountain Business Park is a Class A office complex with two identical three-story office buildings totaling 255,500 rentable square feet.

Mesa West Capital, Los Angeles, lent the venture $42.6 million in first mortgage debt for the acquisition. CBRE Executive Vice President Rocco Mandala arranged the five-year floating-rate interest-only loan.

McDowell Mountain Business Park delivered in 2006 and 2007 and was 74 percent leased at acquisition. The property occupies a central location on the Loop 101 just north of Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard. The Scottsdale Municipal Airport is three miles away.

Equus Senior Vice President and Head of West Coast Operations Jonathan Praw oversaw the transaction. He said this represents the second Equus-iStar joint venture in the Scottsdale market. The venture also owns Raintree Corporate Center one mile south of McDowell Mountain Business Park. It purchased that asset at 51 percent occupancy in 2015 and has increased occupancy to 95 percent.