By Corina Vanek | Arizona Republic
As the developers of SkySong prepare to construct the largest office building planned for the campus in Scottsdale, the ownership group is looking to sell the existing office buildings, or sell stake in them and add a new investor.
SkySong, which was built on land leased from the city of Scottsdale, is one of Arizona State University’s “innovation zones.” University Realty, the real estate arm of ASU’s Enterprise Partners, has the ground lease of the property and private companies lease space from the university.
Since the project began in 2006, five office buildings totaling 715,000 square feet have gone up on the 42-acre site near Scottsdale and McDowell roads. The buildings are nearly fully leased by private companies and the university. The buildings are owned by a joint venture, including University Realty and developers Plaza Cos. and Holualoa Cos.
Whether the buildings will be sold entirely or an investor will buy a stake and join the ownership group depends on what offers the group gets after taking it out to the market, Sharon Harper, chairman and CEO of Plaza Cos., and Morgan Olsen, CFO of ASU, said. Regardless of how much stake a new investor buys, ASU and Plaza will remain involved, with University Realty holding the ground lease for the land and Plaza acting as master developer and property manager.
