AZ Republic, 12 News Office Building in Phoenix Sells for $14.5M to Tax Technology Firm

Article originally posted on AZ Central on December 5, 2023

The 10-story office building at 200 E. Van Buren St., which includes the offices of The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, has been purchased for $14.5 million.

According to real estate database Vizzda, Phoenix-based ViaWest Group sold the building, located at Second and Van Buren streets, to Pivot 200 EVB LLC, an entity affiliated with Phoenix-based StenTam.

StenTam, a tax technology firm that focuses on assisting businesses with tax credits and incentives, has offices in Phoenix and Chicago.

ViaWest had owned the building since December 2018 and did an extensive renovation, adding a Press Coffee shop to the ground floor and renovating the lobby and tenant amenities including the fitness center, said Steven Schwarz, founding partner of ViaWest.

Schwarz said selling the building was part of the company’s business plan after completing the renovation. ViaWest in March sold the building’s parking garage, located at Second and Taylor streets, to the Arizona Board of Regents, the governing body of the state’s public universities.

According to board documents, ABOR approved spending up to $25.5 million on the garage.

At the time of the sale, the building, which is about 240,000 square feet, was 64% occupied by businesses, Schwarz said. In addition to The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, 12 News also leases space in the building.

Schwarz said ViaWest is focusing its energy on industrial real estate and apartment properties, so selling the office building frees some capital for other investments.

Gannett Co., Inc., the parent company of The Republic, sold the building to ViaWest in 2018 and has continued to lease space in the building. In 2018 ViaWest bought the office and the parking garage for $37.65 million, according to Maricopa County records.