Office
Richard Kleiner, like McClure, won the CCIM office forecasting competition for two years running. Kleiner is a shareholder of Cushman & Wakefield/PICOR, specializing in the sale, leasing and investment of office and medical properties. He predicted the vacancy rate of metro Tucson office property would be 12.45 percent at the close of 2015. The actual vacancy rate was 12.80 percent, a slight increase from the 12.60 percent registered at the end of 2014. Kleiner highlighted three of the biggest office transactions in Southern Arizona during the past year, which he said “shows Tucson can play on the national stage.” Kleiner said those deals were:
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Sunquest Information Systems’ lease of the former Muscular Dystrophy Association building in the Catalina Foothills for its new company headquarters. The stunning 83,000-square-foot building is at 3300 E. Sunrise Drive. Founded in 1979, Sunquest is a leader in healthcare technology, supplying diagnostic and laboratory information to more than 1,700 hospitals and laboratories worldwide. The company, now operating at Williams Centre, is expected to move its 300 employees into its new headquarters this fall.
PHOTOS: COURTESY THE SARVER FAMILY
• Comcast’s
lease of more than 100,000 square feet in the former American Home Furnishings building at 4690 N. Oracle Road, next to Tucson Mall. The building, vacant for five years, is being renovated as the cable company’s new home for IT, call center and social media operations. The company’s Tucson expansion will bring 1,100 new jobs here.
• A
sale-leaseback transaction in which Griffin Capital Corp. purchased a 100,273 square-foot building at 3535 E. Valencia Road from First Health Group for $21.6 million. The property is leased to Aetna Life Insurance, an affiliate of First Health Group. As part of the deal, the tenant executed a new, 10-year lease at the property. The tenant and its affiliates have been an occupant at the property since its construction in 2001. continued on page 110 >>>
Robert Sarver Sarver Family from left: Jack, Ellen Gail, Robert, Irene and Betty Anne
Sarver Family Legacy By David Pittman
The Sarver name is a brand itself. Robert Sarver, chairman and CEO of Western Alliance Bancorporation and managing partner of the Phoenix Suns, is a legendary Tucson success story. Before that Jack Sarver, his father, was a business wunderkind in Michigan, then in Tucson. Irene Sarver, his mother, was a staunch business partner and tireless philanthropist. Robert accepted the Real Estate Legend Award on behalf of his entire family in February at the Southern Arizona CCIM Chapter’s annual market forecast program at the Tucson Marriott University Park. A Tucson native who graduated from the University of Arizona in three years, Sarver founded National Bank of Arizona, which he subsequently sold at the age of 23. Today he heads Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE: WAL), one of the fastest growing bank holding companies in the United States with more than $14 billion in assets. He also is a legendary real estate investor/developer. He founded Southwest Value Partners in 1990 at the depth of the savings and loan crisis – an investment company that now consists of 3,000 apartments, 6 million square feet of offices, 7,000 hotel rooms and more than 10,000 acres of land holdings. He’s also been managing partner of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns for 11 years. The seeds of the Sarver family legacy in Tucson were sown a generation earlier, when the family moved here in 1960. Jack Sarver grew up in Flint, Mich., where he began working at his father’s gas station. He attended the University of Michigan, but was forced to quit for financial reasons and went back to work at the gas station. Yet Jack Sarver was destined for success. A year after leaving college, he borrowed $500 and began a tire retreading business, which he turned into the largest tire retreading enterprise in Michigan. In 1947, Jack met his wife Irene. The couple was married and had their first child, Gary, in 1949. Tragically, the child
died three-and-half years later. Daughters Betty Anne and Ellen Gail were born while Jack and Irene were living in Flint. Jack’s business success continued. He started an auto and home supply store. He developed shopping centers, apartments and the Auto-Rama Hotel, which became the largest hotel in Michigan. He also founded and served as president of the Flint Savings & Loan. In 1960, Jack and family moved to Tucson where he financed, developed and ran the Desert Inn Hotel downtown. Soon after, Robert was born. Jack also founded and served as president and chairman of American Savings and Loan at Casa Adobes Plaza, where Robert began working while still in high school. Perhaps the most well-known Sarver hotel development was the Plaza International Hotel at the corner of Speedway and Campbell, now the Aloft Tucson University. Jack was also a key advocate for the Tucson Convention Center downtown. Irene was a devoted wife and mother as well as Jack’s strong-minded business partner. She used her boundless energy and talents to help many Tucson philanthropic organizations, including the Jewish Family and Children Services, National Council of Jewish Women, Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and Brewster Center (which is now Emerge!) Jack died in 1979 at just 58 years old. Irene remained a positive force in the Tucson community until her passing in July 2015. The Sarver family has given generously to many Tucson causes. The most wellknown example came in 1998 when Robert and his wife, Penny, made a substantial gift to the University of Arizona Heart Center – resulting in it being renamed the Sarver Heart Center. Robert and Penny described their generous donation as more of an investment than a gift – an investment made in honor of the family patriarch, who had heart surgery there and counseled patients who were scared as they considered new heart procedures.
Biz
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