At the Rio Nuevo meeting Tuesday, the board moved ahead to finalize an agreement with Allan Norville’s Nor-Generations, LLC, or ‘Nor Gen’ to acquire and develop the 8.5 acres adjacent to the freeway, where the Greyhound Bus Terminal is currently located, commonly referred to as the Arena Site, or the western gateway to Downtown Tucson.

Nor-Gen won the “right to negotiate” with the Rio Nuevo District in August, 2014, based upon a proposal in which it offered to buy the 8.5 acres for $5.6 million ($15.11 PSF) and develop a multi-faceted project that included a hotel, parking facilities, a visual arts complex, residential and retail space on the site, adjacent to the parcel where Nor-Gen proposes to construct a 120,000-square-foot permanent exhibition hall for the gem show connecting to the TCC.

As indicated by post-August comments from the District Board, coming to a final agreement with Nor-Gen had become arduous. As a result of Tuesday’s meeting, the parties finalized, executed and released the final Purchase and Sale Agreement.

By the terms of the agreement, Nor-Gen has 90-days to assess the property and determine whether it wants to proceed with the purchase and development. If Nor-Gen does proceed, the sale is to close escrow in 30-days and Nor-Gen will be given six months to submit development plans to the City of Tucson.

Once the City approves the Nor-Gen’s plan, the Greyhound Terminal will have one-year to be relocated,  then the construction timeline calendar will begin sometime after November 2016.

Nor-Gen will then have 42-months (3-1/2 years, or until May 2020) after the Greyhound Terminal is moved to invest a minimum of $10 million in hard construction costs, 10% of the proposed $100 million project, on the Arena Site or pay the agreed upon liquidated damages of a one-time charge of $2.5 million, without further recourse or payment date specified.

After the execution of the agreement, Rio Nuevo Chairman, Fletcher McCusker, proclaimed that “we are grateful to Allan and his team for working through all of the issues in the agreement.” McCusker went on to say that “given the legacy of failed Rio Nuevo projects, we succeeded in attaching meaningful conditions to assure the taxpaying community that this gateway parcel actually gets developed.”

Well, as part of the taxpaying community, we would just like to say missing in this agreement is any timeline for Nor-Gen to construct anything on its adjacent parcel already owned, something that could start tomorrow, or any confirmed hotel brand for the arena project, one of the many reasons many saw the Peach Properties’ proposal as superior having already in-hand a commitment from Drury Inn “ready-to-build”. Nor-Gen has still to confirm a hotel flag; it has only implied it might be a Hyatt.

Nor-Gen has been given over 5 years, or basically as long as it wants, to holdup development from I-10 to Granada Avenue and from Congress Street to Cushing Street downtown, the western gateway to Downtown Tucson, that about sums up all the vacant property downtown.

Welcome to Nuevo-Norville-ville.

To see the full Rio Nuevo – Nor-Gen Purchase and Sale Agreement  click here.

For related articles in Real Estate Daily News see: Two $100 Million Projects bid Arena Lot Rio Nuevo District

Nor-Gen Peach Faceoff on Downtown Arena Lot

Rio Nuevo Moves Ahead with Nor-Gen

Welcome to Norville-ville

TUCSON, AZ – Paloma Village Center, located at one of the most desirable intersections in the State, Campbell Ave & Skyline Drive in Tucson, sold for $17.2 million ($456 PSF). The 37,739-square-foot center on 4.49 acres sold to HRA Paloma LP, a commercial real estate entity affiliated with Hannay Realty Advisors based in Phoenix plans to manage the property itself.

Paloma Village Center is a well-positioned Class A property located in the prestigious Catalina Foothills and is part of a 12.9 acre mixed-use development that also includes a 120 room flagship Embassy Suites Hotel, which was not included in this sale.

Paloma Village Center with 14 tenants has a history of high occupancy due to its tremendous visibility and signage, limited retail competition and high income demographics in the surrounding area. 71% of the rent roll are original tenants of the center that was developed in 2004.

The heavy draw to the intersection is the 250,000-square-foot La Encantada outdoor specialty mall featuring luxury retailers and restaurants such as: The Apple Store, Tommy Bahama, AJ’s Fine Foods, Lululemon Athletica, Coach, Tiffany & Co, Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Louis Vuitton and more.

The national tenants occupying Paloma Village Center include Fleming’s, CVS Pharmacy, Starbucks and Verizon Wireless. Other tenants include Café Jasper, C. Green Jewelry, Spa NiVa and The Ballet Conservatory of Dance Music & Art.

The buyer in the transaction was represented by Andrew Harrison of ORION Investment Real Estate of Scottsdale. The California-based seller, Darryl Wong & Associates, was represented by Matthew Lyons of The Hogan Group in Scottsdale.

ORION’s Vice President Andrew Harrison noted, “This high profile property represents a generational opportunity in a submarket where properties rarely trade. The buyer was drawn to the stable tenant roster and high barriers to entry.”

To learn more Harrison should be reached at 480.634.6934 and Lyons can be contacted at 602.553.4158.

[mepr-show rules=”58038″]Sale Date: 1/22/2015. Buyer paid $8.6 million down and financed the balance with Nationwide Life Insurance Company. Parking ratio 5:1000. Property was 97% occupied at time of sale and sold at a 6.14% cap rate.[/mepr-show]

Two North Central Tucson apartment complexes sold for a total of $7.76 million to out of state investors.

Investors from Washington State, Blacklidge Terrace Apartments – Tucson, LLC of Sammamish, WA (Marco Lizardi, manager) purchased the Blacklidge Terrace Apartments for $4.5 million ($21,635 per unit). The property was 91% occupied at time of sale.

Blacklidge Terrace located at 201 W Blacklidge Drive in North Central Tucson is just minutes south of the Tucson Mall and minutes north of vibrant and ever-improving downtown Tucson. Developed in 1983 by GH Development Company, the property consists of 208 units that deliver comfortable interior appointments through a selection of smart-sized studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartment homes with a weighted average unit size of 531-square-feet. Apartment interiors feature kitchens equipped with a frost-free refrigerator and an electric range. Select units also include walk-in closets, linen closets, and ceiling fans.

Community amenities comprise of two swimming pools and two spas, outdoor spaces featuring picnic areas with barbecue grills, two children’s playgrounds, three basketball courts, and four laundry facilities.

Hamid Panahi with Marcus & Millichap of Tucson handled negotiations for the buyer and the seller, Woodbridge Apartments LLC & Twinbridge Apartments LP (Michael MacElhenny, manager) of Santa Barbara, CA.

To learn more Panahi can be reached at 602.687.6700 or 520.202.2900. See also RED Comp #2428 for additional information.

In a separate transaction, Woodland Village Apartments was sold to Tucson Equity Partners, LLC of San Diego, CA for $3.26 million ($23,286 per unit) on Auction.com. The new owner has since renamed the complex Juniper Canyon located at 3055 N Flowing Wells Rd in North Central Tucson. The property was 90% occupied at time of sale.

The 140-unit complex consists of 77% one-bedrooms and 23% two-bedroom units. Community amenities include a fitness center, club house, ramada area with BBQ grills, a sand volleyball court, swimming pool and spa, laundry facility with new machines, and an on-site rental office. Units features include garbage disposal, stainless steel kitchen sink, everyday electric appliances, air conditioning and ceiling fans.

The seller was Woodland Wells, LLC (Ebrahim Jebreel, manager) of Los Angeles, CA.

Login to see RED Comp #2394 for additional information.