PHOENIX — For the second time in three months, Downtown’ s 26-story One Renaissance Square has been sold to an out-of-state buyer. First-time V alley buyer Pauls Corp. of Denver picked up the trophy for $128.8 million or $8.8 million more than Los Angeles-based seller Maguire Properties paid for the building just three months ago.

Philip Marino with Inter con West Realty Advisors , who handled the transaction
for the buyer, tells GlobeSt.com that the firm beat out at least 15 other bidders
from across the country to take the 484,000-sf trophy asset at 2 N. Central
Ave. "It was a very competitive bidding process," he says.

Marino says the buyer's reputation for closing the deal made its high bid offer particularly attractive for the seller . The 98%- leased class A office building was part of a $1.5-billion, 10-property portfolio that Maguire purchased from Common Wealth Partners, Rockefeller Group International Inc. and CalPERS.

The Pauls Corp., which owns assets in Toronto, Calgary, San Francisco, Las
Vegas and Denver , had focused its acquisition strategy on the Phoenix market
because of the Valley's rapid growth and strong investment potential. Marino says the investment group plans to make other acquisitions in the Valley and Southern California, another strong investment market. "It was an excellent asset for them to gain access into the Phoenix market being located in the downtown sub market with an extremely strong growth forecast," he says. The tower, completed in 1987, counts among its lead tenants as the law firms of Quarles & Brady Streich Lang, Bryan Cave and Gammage & Burnham
plus Ernst & Young LLP.

Adam Edwards and Steve Silk, principals at Secured Capital Corp in Los Angeles,
handled the transaction for the seller. Assisting Marino with negotiations for the
buyer was Mark Seale of CB Richard Ellis Inc. in Phoenix.