MIAMI — Swire Properties Inc., in partnership with retail co-developers Whitman Family Development and Simon Property Group, has signed two new luxury retailers to join Brickell City Centre’s 500,000-square-foot shopping center. The shopping center, set to open in fall 2016, is part of the $1.05 billion, 5.4 million-square-foot Brickell City Centre master-planned development in downtown Miami. The two new retailers are Valentino, an Italian fashion retailer, and Chopard, a Swiss Watch and jewelry designer. The two new retailers will join announced tenants Saks Fifth Avenue, Quinto La Huella restaurant and rooftop bar, Sugar — located within EAST, Miami Hotel — and luxury theater Cinemex. The condominium, office and hotel components of Brickell City Centre are set to open beginning at the end of 2015.
Florida
The business and employment gains in the Tampa Bay market are helping landlords attract new retail names to the market to fill space and subsequently raise rents. The area shows good signs of a healthy market, with strong leasing activity and a growing need for new development. The retail vacancy rate continues to drop, ending 2014 at 6.3 percent versus 6.9 percent in the first quarter of that year, according to CoStar. Rents are positively going the other way, rising to $13.73 per square foot from $13.57 per square foot over the same time periods. Space is extremely tight in some submarkets, just 2.1 percent in south Tampa and northeast Tampa, and 4.5 percent in the larger I-75 corridor at the end of last year, according to CoStar. The lack of space can be attributed in part to the slow pace of new construction. Developers and their lenders are being more cautious, having learned lessons from the last recession. At the same time, a number of new concepts, all of which are good for the market, are arriving in Tampa Bay. The current situation puts landlords in even more control than they had last year. They’re using this period to …
DORAL, FLA. — The Related Group, in partnership with Prudential Real Estate Investors and Shoma Homes, has secured a $137 million construction loan for Phase III of CityPlace Doral, a mixed-use development located in Doral, west of downtown Miami. The third phase of development will include 304 residential units located above 250,000 square feet of retail space. CityPlace Doral is more than 60 percent pre-leased to tenants including The Fresh Market, CinéBistro-Cobb Theatres, Kings Bowling and 30 additional restaurants and retail shops. The first phase of CityPlace Doral is set to open in November 2016. Suffolk Construction is building the project, and Related Urban is in charge of leasing efforts.
JACKSONVILLE BEACH, FLA. — Native Sun Natural Foods Market, an organic grocery chain based in Jacksonville, will open a new store at the corner of 3rd Street and 15th Avenue North in Jacksonville Beach in September. The new store will anchor North Beach Village, a 20,604-square-foot shopping center leased to tenants such as El Potro Mexican Restaurant and Philly’s Finest Cheesesteaks. Native Sun has begun hiring and expects to employ roughly 50 positions. The Jacksonville Beach store will be the grocer’s third location.
JACKSONVILLE, FLA. — Ziff Properties Inc. has acquired Merrill Crossings Shopping Center Phase I, a 125,869-square-foot, mixed-use property located in Jacksonville, for $8.6 million. The property comprises 45,135 square feet of retail anchored by Big Lots and 80,734 square feet of self storage. Michael Mele of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller.
JACKSONVILLE, FLA. — CPA:18-Global, a non-traded REIT sponsored by W. P. Carey Inc., has purchased an 88,000-square-foot office building located in Jacksonville’s Southside submarket. The Class A property is triple-net leased to Acosta Inc., an affiliate of The Carlyle Group, for 12 years. Built in 2001 as a build-to-suit for Acosta, the property serves as Acosta’s corporate headquarters and houses 400 employees.
POMPANO BEACH, FLA. — CBRE has brokered the $4.5 million sale of Pompano Plaza, a 61,658-square-foot, two-story retail/office center located at 1602 S. Cypress Road in Pompano Beach, a town in Broward County in South Florida. S and S R.E. Investments Inc. purchased the property from IR-Pompano Plaza LLC, which hired CBRE to market the asset for sale and negotiate the transaction. The property is 75 percent leased to a mix of local retail, office and service tenants, such as Pro-Am Dance Studio, Pompano Pizza and Guido’s Italian Market. David Donnellan and Patricia Friend of CBRE represented the seller in the transaction.
Downtown Miami is on fire by any measure. The neighborhood is home to more construction cranes than any other place in the U.S., businesses are moving in and expanding on an almost daily basis, hotel room rates and occupancy levels are at all-time highs, and new residents are relocating here from all over the world. A recent study by the Miami Downtown Development Authority found that greater downtown Miami’s residential population has literally doubled in size — from 40,000 people to 80,000 people — since 2000. Another 200,000 people commute to the area each day for business. The area’s commercial real estate market has closely followed this trajectory of growth, with Downtown Miami and the Brickell Financial District welcoming more than 2 million square feet of new Class A office product in the last five years. Strong demand among domestic and multinational companies, along with an improving economy, has resulted in positive absorption and record-setting lease rates in excess of $50 per square foot for premium space. Land values in downtown are also reaching new heights as developers spend as much as $125 million for one acre on the water. All of this is creating a steep barrier to entry …
JACKSONVILLE, FLA. — HFF has arranged $50 million in acquisition financing for Thornton Park, a 474-unit, Class A apartment community located at 8450 Gate Parkway W. in Jacksonville’s Southside submarket. The developer, Epoch Residential, is using the loan to purchase the apartment community outright. The acquisition marks Epoch Residential’s first purchase in its 45-year history. Completed in 2008, the apartment community features two resort-style swimming pools and spas, a picnic area with barbecue grills, playground, indoor basketball court, fitness center, clubhouse, library, billiards room, sports bar and detached garages. Elliott Throne and Brett Moss of HFF arranged the three-year, floating-rate loan through Colony Mortgage Capital.
HIALEAH GARDENS, FLA. — Bridge Development Partners LLC has tapped PREMIER Design + Build LLC to construct Bridge Point Crossroads West. The general contractor will build the 242,859-square-foot speculative industrial facility on a 17-acre parcel in Hialeah Gardens, roughly 15 miles north of Miami. The facility will feature 32-foot clear heights, 81 truck dock positions, two drive-in doors, an ESFR sprinkler system, 227-stall parking lot and a TPO roofing system. RLC Architects is designing the facility, which is scheduled for a second quarter 2016 completion. Gian Rodriguez and Wayne Ramoski of Cushman & Wakefield are providing leasing services for the project. Bridge Development Partners has also tapped PREMIER to construct Bridge Point Crossroads East and South, a four-building industrial complex.