Equity One Expands West Florida Presence With $7.25 Mil Purchase of Retail Center

NORTH MIAMI BEACH, FL-Banking on new development and investment niches on Florida’s southwest coast, locally-based Equity One Inc. is growing its portfolio there with the acquistion of Shoppes of North Port, an 85,005-sf retail center in Sarasota County, 180 miles northwest of Downtown Miami. The New York Stock Exchange-traded REIT paid New York-based Ezon Realty $7.25 million or $85.29 per sf for the asset, which is anchored by a Publix Supermarket store and a Beall’s Outlet.

Ezon helped close the sale by taking back a $4.4 million first mortgage at 6.65% interest. The asset has an estimated net operating income of $700,000. To do the deal, Equity One created a new partnership and contributed its interest in the Diana Building, an 18,707-sf retail/office property in West Palm Beach, FL with an estimated value of $2.8 million and a net operating income of $259,000. Ezon can exchange its partnership interest in the new partnership for 261,850 shares of Equity One common stock at a conversion price equal to $11 per share and a corresponding put option at $11 per share.