PENSACOLA, FLA. — Crossman & Co. has arranged the $3.7 million sale of the Shoppes at Milestone, a 19,700-square-foot retail strip center in Pensacola. Bruce Lyons and Brian Carolan of Crossman & Co. worked on behalf of the undisclosed seller in the transaction. Westwood Financial Corp. acquired the fully occupied center. Tenants at Shoppes at Milestone include shadow-anchor Publix, Jersey Mike’s, Hot Heads Burritos, H&R Block, Cricket Wireless, Papa Murphy’s and Enterprise Rent-a-Car.
ORLANDO, FLA. — Crescent Communities has opened Crescent Central Station, a new transit-oriented apartment community located immediately adjacent to a SunRail commuter train station in downtown Orlando. The 279-unit property is located at the corner of North Orange Avenue and Amelia Street and includes an extension of the Gertrude’s Walk park and trail and downtown Orlando’s only off-leash, public dog park. Other amenities include bike storage, a resort-style pool, sundeck, rooftop terrace and a two-story fitness center. Units include granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, upscale lighting fixtures and USB power outlets. Lincoln Property Co. manages Crescent Central Station. The project was financed through an equity investment from Crescent Communities and debt from Synovus Bank and Nationwide. The design team included general contractor Winter Park Construction, architect Lord Aeck Sargent and civil engineer GAI.
NORTH MIAMI, FLA. — Meridian Capital Group has arranged a $21 million acquisition loan for Center Court Apartments, a 588-unit property located at 14797 N.E. 18th Ave. in North Miami. David Hayum and Tal Savariego of Meridian Capital’s New York City office arranged the seven-year loan through an unnamed balance sheet lender on behalf of the borrower, YMP Realty Management. The loan features a fixed interest rate of 3.98 percent and a 30-year amortization schedule.
SEMINOLE, FLA. — Grandbridge Real Estate Capital has closed a $4.6 million loan secured by a Winn Dixie-anchored shopping center in Seminole. Bill Mattice and Phillip Cox of Grandbridge’s Greenville, S.C., office arranged the 10-year, interest-only loan through an unnamed CMBS lender. According to Mattice, the unnamed borrower was using a 1031 exchange as the equity to acquire the shopping center.
NAPLES, FLA. — Investment Properties Corp. has brokered the $25.5 million sale of 50,000 square feet of street-level retail and office space located at 800 and 821 5th Ave. S. in downtown Naples. Westbury International Corp. sold the assets to a subsidiary of Hendricks Commercial Properties LLC. David Stevens of Investment Properties Corp. brokered the transaction.
ORLANDO, FLA. — Auction.com LLC has arranged the $21.2 million sale of Vista Centre Shoppes, a 98,411-square-foot retail center located at 8462 Palm Parkway in Orlando. The center is situated on a 13.9-acre site located down the street from Disney World. Built in 1989, the shopping center was 89.4 percent leased at the time of sale. A private buyer based in South Florida purchased the property from the Atlanta-based seller. Philip Kates, Adam Sklaver and Dean Lewis of Auction.com worked with Brad Peterson and Whitaker Leonhardt of HFF’s Orlando office to sell the property. Michael Lapointe and Adam Greenberg of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented the buyer.
JACKSONVILLE, FLA. — KeyBank Real Estate Capital has secured an $11 million non-recourse, CMBS loan for University Center in Jacksonville. The 102,885-square-foot shopping center is fully leased to tenants such as LA Fitness, T.J. Maxx, Beall’s and Dollar Tree. Publix shadow anchors the center. Randy Martin of KeyBank secured the loan on behalf of the borrower.
After six painful years, vacancy is finally declining in the Orlando office market. Effects of the Great Recession on real estate markets have been thoroughly examined here before, but outside factors that have played such a prominent role in reshaping the office market are creating significant impact. These changes might appear to be negative, but they will ultimately prove positive. Quantum advances in communication and data storage, new attitudes regarding workplace culture, workspace sharing centers and virtual offices have stirred the submarkets that comprise the greater Orlando area. While they are affecting all sectors of commercial real estate, they are felt most acutely in the office markets, slowing employment growth and corporate expansion, which have always powered the rate of change in quarter-to-quarter vacancy declines. Cloud-based data storage and paperless transaction platforms have shrunk the size of private offices with file storage rooms. Text messaging, email and file sharing platforms such as Dropbox have reduced the need for face-to-face meetings and demand for conference rooms and private offices. Real estate closings that once involved several parties in a conference room are antiquated now. Over the past five years, staffed reception areas have given way to scaled down waiting salons with …
MIAMI, FLA. — Binswanger-Gateway has arranged a 20,600-square-foot office lease for Compass, a residential real estate brokerage firm. Compass will occupy the penthouse in the Art Deco building, located at 605 Lincoln Road in Miami Beach, for 10 years. The historic 72,000-square-foot building was constructed in 1936 by architect Robert E. Collins and was the former home of Sony Music. Pedro Garcia and Zach Binswanger of Binswanger-Gateway brokered the transaction. Lincoln Road Penthouse LLP is the landlord and was represented by Gordon Messinger of Cushman & Wakefield.
BOYNTON BEACH, FLA. — Stiles Realty has sold the 62,573-square-foot retail component of Renaissance Commons, a mixed-use commercial complex in Boynton Beach, Fla. The property was sold for $18.2 million. Dan Coyle of Stiles Realty represented both parties in the transaction. Cohen Commercial Properties was the buyer, and Wells Fargo Bank affiliate Redus One LLC was the seller. Located at 1880 N. Congress Ave. and 1500 W. Gateway Blvd., the retail component of Renaissance Commons includes 17 ground floor units across two buildings. The retail space is 80 percent leased to tenants including Bonefish Grill, Starbucks, Village Tavern Restaurant and AT&T. Renaissance Commons includes 293,000 square feet of office condos, office rentals and a self-storage facility. Stiles Realty and Stiles Property Management, both of which had been leasing and managing the property since Wells Fargo foreclosed on it in early 2014, were retained under the new ownership.