The purchaser is Des Moines, IA-based Principal Financial Group, Inc., (www.principal.com), a leader in offering business, individual and institutional clients a wide range of financial products and services. A Fortune 500 company, Principal has $311.1 billion in assets under management and serves 18.6 million customers worldwide.

According to Patrick Gallagher, Senior Vice President of The Alter Group, the buildings' closings were staggered over a two-week period to coincide with their construction-completion dates. The 309,495 SF warehouse at 6923 Buckeye Road sold for $18.2 million, while the 380,740 SF building at 6825 Buckeye Road sold for $22.9 million.

"The buildings attracted eight offers during the marketing phase, with Principal Financial stepping up with the highest bid," Gallagher said. "The deal was concluded directly with Principal. We were fortunate that the quality of these buildings and their prime location attracted very qualified buyers."

With the first phase of Buckeye Logistics Center now complete, The Alter Group is planning the next speculative phase. According to Gallagher, construction of another building could begin in the first quarter of 2009.

"We could develop on our own or form a joint venture with another institutional partner," according to Gallagher. "The Alter Group has no plans to hold the speculative buildings, but to market them for sale at completion. With 84 acres remaining, there is still room for build-to-suit projects on a site that can support up to 1,500,000 SF."

Buckeye Logistics Center, The Alter Group's inaugural industrial development in Phoenix, is strategically located minutes from I-10 via two full interchanges at 67th Avenue and 75th Avenue. The site, ideally suited for regional distribution users, has east-west access with close proximity to Southern California markets. Buckeye Logistics Center has the ability to support up to 3,000,000 SF of distribution space. The park's total value is expected to exceed $170,000,000.

The Alter Group's exclusive leasing agent for Buckeye Logistics Center is Cushman and Wakefield, represented by Pat Harlan, Director; and Steve Sayre, Director.

The Alter Group is a national corporate real estate development firm with five vertically integrated affiliate companies. Each offers specialized services including turnkey development, investment brokerage, construction, property management and healthcare development.

The Alter Group is a national corporate real estate development firm of office, industrial and healthcare facilities. Additionally, the firm provides comprehensive services in brokerage, construction, investment services, and property and asset management.

Founded by William A. Alter in 1955, The Alter Group has developed close to 100,000,000 SF of speculative projects for its own portfolio and build-to-suit facilities for corporate users. This year, the company has 4,000,000 SF of space, worth $600,000,000, under development in national markets. The firm was recently ranked as # 5 in the National Real Estate Investor survey of America's top office developers.