PHOENIX (August 8, 2000) - The real estate partnership of Pivotal/SVP 24th L.L.C., comprised of the Phoenix-based Pivotal Group and Southwest Value Partners (SVP), has sold the last commercial office parcel at the Camelback Esplanade mixed-use development to Opus West Corporation for $7.5 million. The 60,000-square-foot parcel is at the northeast corner of Camelback Road and 26th street in the Camelback Corridor submarket.

The Camelback Corridor, Phoenix's most active and diverse business core, is considered to be the Valley's premier office location. The corridor has historically attracted major users from the finance, real estate and technology industries and boasts a vacancy rate of only 7.5 percent.

Opus West plans to break ground on a 230,000-square-foot, 10-story office tower -- the fifth and final office tower at the Camelback Esplanade - by September 2000. Completion is scheduled for December 2001.

Pivotal will relocate its corporate headquarters to the fifth tower and join the anchor tenant, Merrill Lynch, a leading global financial management and advisory company.

"Originally, we purchased the remaining 12 acres of undeveloped land at the Camelback Esplanade in 1994 for $6.25 million and are now nearing the build-out of the mixed-used development," said Jahm Najafi, chief operating officer of Pivotal. "This represents our continued long-term strategy of securing select, value-added assets in major markets. Over the past six years, three office towers and thousands of square feet of retail and restaurant space have been developed. The Camelback Esplanade is now recognized as the crown jewel of commercial property in the Valley."

Tenants of Esplanade V will enjoy unencumbered views of Squaw Peak and Camelback Mountains and the Arizona Biltmore Golf Course. The project also will feature a four-story underground parking garage.

The project architect is Phoenix-based Cornoyer-Hedrick. Opus West Construction Corporation is the general contractor.

The Esplanade is currently comprised of four office towers; restaurants including Roy's, Houstons, Morton's of Chicago, and McCormick and Scmick; fashionable salons and stores; the Ritz-Carlton hotel; and a 14-screen AMC Theater.

Pivotal Group is a diversified investment company dedicated to the quality development of resort, residential and office properties in Arizona and the Southwest. Widely recognized for its ability to create high-quality communities and business environments, the firm has worked closely with some of the nation's premier real estate companies, including Los Angeles-based William E. Simon & Sons Realty, Boston-based AEW Capital Management and Phoenix-based DMB Associates.

Pivotal's recent activities include the development of Promontory, a $500 million resort-style master-planned community in Utah; the start of WestWing Mountain, a 1,300-acre master-planned community in Peoria, Arizona; and the acquisition and renovation of The Century Plaza Hotel and Tower in Los Angeles.

For more information about Pivotal Private Equity, visit www.pivotalgroup.com