At first glance, the sale of two small 1970s buildings may seem unremarkable, but the deal is a good example of the clever and slightly contrarian ethos of the seller, local commercial real estate firm Larsen Baker. For example. The transaction was awarded the 2023 CoStar Impact Award by an independent panel of industry experts within the market.
Or, as Impact Awards judge Sam Sufi puts it, the seller’s “serious dance strategy,” comparing it to Chicago billionaire and real estate mogul Sam Zell’s clever machinations.
The property in question is a 6,048 square foot bank branch. 6401 N. Campbell Avenue 6405 N. Campbell is a two-story office building measuring approximately 7,000 square feet. The two are located in Tucson’s Catalina Hills district, on one corner of the main commercial corridor on East Skyline Drive, south of La Encantada shopping mall, one of the Tucson’s most exclusive retail centers. increase.
Larsen Baker acquired both from Bank of America in December 2020. $3.5 million, according to CoStar records. The building was vacant when Larsen Baker purchased it. Bank of America completely ceased operations there in the spring of 2020, according to records registered with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
At the time, unused bank assets were in dozens of cents. The property was one of hundreds of branches that closed as financial institutions cut real-life space made unnecessary by online banking. The integration process continues to this day. Between 2010 and 2021, the number of bank branches fell from just over 85,000 to around 72,400, a 15% decline during that time.
This trend has been even more pronounced in Arizona, where the number of branches and the number of banking companies have decreased dramatically. During that time, the number of his FDIC-insured banks operating in the state plummeted by 76.4%, from 39 to just 13. Meanwhile, the number of bank branches decreased by 23.5% from 1,336 in 2010 to 1,022 in 2021.
Nonetheless, Larsen Baker gambled that the building could be refurbished, freed and turned over. This is a feat accomplished in less than two years. The company overhauled both and leased 6401 N. Campbell to Charles Schwab, a state-owned financial services and wealth management company based in Westlake, Texas. In June 2022, the building was purchased by Tucson firm Iridius Capital as a net lease investment for $5.8 million.
The 6405 North Campbell building is now owned by venture capital group Singularity Capital, which also bought the building in June for $4.4 million, according to Pima County records.
The total is $10.2 million, almost triple the 2020 purchase price. The sale also benefited the larger Tucson community by reviving a dormant building on a busy commercial corridor.
About the project: Both buildings at 6401 and 6405 North Campbell were built in 1978 and renovated by Larsen Baker in 2021.
Jury Comments: “We need to see more outdated, vacant and decaying buildings ready to be rejuvenated to bring new energy to the city and strengthen it. [aesthetics] Sufi, property development manager at Diamond Ventures in Tucson, said:
They made it happen: Isaac Figueroa and Elina Elliot scored points for selling Larsen Baker.
