[Source: Jahna Berry, Arizona Republic] — Amid today’s cutthroat real-estate market, Jim Fijan drifts off to sleep thinking of ways to rent more office space in a 27-story tower in downtown Phoenix’s CityScape complex. Brad Anderson starts checking his e-mail at dawn. The early start helps him find tenants for One Central Park East, a 26-story office building a few blocks away from CityScape. Anderson and Fijan work for the same company, CB Richard Ellis. Although the good-natured co-workers say that they don’t see each other as rivals, each leads a highly competitive team of brokers who are essentially chasing the same pool of possible tenants.
It’s not uncommon for a large firm to represent clients in the same neighborhood, but the matchup between CityScape and One Central Park East underscores how the strong renter’s market has affected commercial real estate in Phoenix.
The two projects will inject more than 1 million square feet of office space into a downtown market where layoffs have created a glut of empty cubicles. The $175 million One Central Park East glass tower stands at Central Avenue and Van Buren Street. CityScape’s shiny tower near First and Washington streets will be nestled in a $900 million, three-block complex that will have shops, restaurants and a hotel.
They have more in common than proximity. They have sweeping views of the Valley, are of similar size and are close to light-rail stops. Tenants would be a few minutes’ walk from downtown shops, restaurants, and the Phoenix Convention Center. And both projects were planned during rosier times, when high-end office space, classified as Class A in the real- estate world, was in high demand downtown. Now, that’s not the case. [Note: To read the full article and online comments, click here.]
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