Continental Real Estate Cos. of Miami paid Atlanta-based Watkins Retail Group $6.95 million or $61.54 per sf for the property at South Orange Blossom Trail and Waterbridge Boulevard. A 42,112-sf Big Lots anchors the center.

Area brokers tell GlobeSt.com the $61.54-per-sf-price is in line with recent sales for comparable properties but still below prices that newer retail centers are demanding and receiving.

For example, the 16-year-old, 98,000-sf, 92%-leased Poinciana Place Shopping Center, 10 minutes from Walt Disney World at State Road 535 and U.S. 192 in Kissimmee, FL was sold in February for $6 million or $61.22 per sf.

But in the same month, the Shoppes at Lake Avenue, a smaller property at 64,543 sf, went for $12.3 million or $190.57 per sf, the highest per-sf-price for a retail property this year in Central Florida. The two-year-old center is 99% leased.

Advantis Real Estate Services Co./GVA of Orlando represented Watkins in the Waterbridge Downs transaction.