FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Braxton Glass, Vice President
ORION Investment Real Estate
T: (480) 656-1648
F: (480) 772-4242
E: braxton.glass@orionprop.com
Company Website: www.orionprop.com
Phoenix Mixed-Use Project Closes as Largest Crowdfunded Real Estate Transaction in Metropolitan Phoenix
June 26, 2014 | Phoenix, AZ
7th Gate Center, a 43,426 square foot Phoenix mixed-use project located at 1601 North 7th Street, closed for $5,025,000 on June 17th. Braxton Glass, Vice President of ORION Investment Real Estate in Scottsdale, facilitated the transaction purchased by Cole Valley Partners, a boutique commercial real estate investment firm based in San Francisco. Harnessing an innovative trend in the real estate capital market, Crowdfunding platform RealtyShares, Inc. assisted Cole Valley Partners in sourcing equity for the
transaction.
The project is located on the northeast corner of 7th Street and McDowell Road, one of the highest traffic dual artery intersections in metropolitan Phoenix. The property consists of approximately 39,000 square feet of multi-tenant office space over two levels of underground parking, along with a ground floor Chase bank branch, drive through lanes and associated surface parking.
7th Gate Center is the second Phoenix area purchase for Cole Valley Partners. This also marks the second transaction closed through a Cole Valley/RealtyShares collaboration, as well as the largest crowdfunded commercial real estate transaction to date in metropolitan Phoenix.
“7th Gate Center represented a rare opportunity to acquire an attractive and highly visible asset at a discount to replacement cost, within a tightly supply constrained submarket. ORION is very excited to have participated in this groundbreaking transaction, the largest of its kind thus far in this market,” said Glass.
Crowdfunding emerged in 2012 from the JOBS Act and may have a transformative effect on how commercial real estate properties are transacted. “Crowdfunding is one of the most revolutionary industry events in recent years and is a great way to diversify and broaden our equity base,” stated Zach Bonsall, Managing Partner of Cole Valley Partners.
Nav Athwal, Co-Founder and CEO of RealtyShares, remarked that, “RealtyShares provides an online platform that pools accredited investors into funds that hold an interest in a pre-identified private real estate investment. Investors can invest as little as $5,000 into any one property. We have been very pleased with the response from both investors and sponsors such as Cole Valley Partners and are excited for the future of crowdfunded real estate investments.”
“We have enjoyed our association with ORION and RealtyShares, and look forward to continuing to acquire property in Arizona and throughout the Western United States,” concluded Bonsall.
