PHOENIX – According to the Arizona Republic, Bank of America is seeking to foreclose on Viad Corporate Center, a high-rise office tower in Phoenix. Although the building’s ownership is not associated with Viad Corp., it is the headquarters for the marketing, travel and recreation services company.

Las Vegas-based Global Experience Specialists, Inc. (GES) is one division of Viad.

McCarthy Cook & Co is the owner of Viad Corporate Center, an office building at 1850 N. Central Ave. in Phoenix.

The foreclosure move comes as an example of the area’s commercial real estate problems.

“Bank of America has asked a Maricopa County Superior Court judge to appoint a receiver for the signature tower at 1850 N. Central Ave. The lender said the building's owner has not kept current since December on a $65 million loan,” said the newspaper.

The building's ownership group, MCC/I&G Viad Office Tower Owner LLC, purchased the 478,000-square-foot building near the height of Phoenix’s real-estate boom for about $105 million in 2006.

McCarthy Cook & Co owes more than $3.9 million as of January 2010. When purchased four years ago, the build’s occupancy was nearly 100 percent. That figure has since dropped to under 80 percent occupancy.

The building debt has escalated to over $81.2 million in principal, fees and other costs, stated the lender.

“Virtually everybody on Central and virtually every submarket has had challenges getting tenants, so they are just a casualty of this market. There may be a few more before this is all over,” said Pete Bolton, managing director of Grubb & Ellis, a commercial real estate advisory firm.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this online story indicated that Viad was the owner of the building named Viad Corporate Center. Viad sold the building in 1997 and is now a tenant. This foreclosure is not related to Viad or its finances.