A 66,000-sf Winn-Dixie supermarket anchors the center, and its parent company filed for bankruptcy protection during the sale negotiations. "Keeping the deal on track after Winn-Dixie's bankruptcy filing was a real challenge, as was getting the loan server's consent to the transfer, but we did it," says Stephen Bittel, chairman of Miami Beach-based Terranova Corp. He and Scott Rohrbach, a Terranova commercial associate, represented the seller.

Klaff, which had managed the property with limited success during its first couple of years as owner, later assigned leasing to Terranova. "We engineered a turnaround of the center by giving it a facelift and welcoming a long list of new tenants," Bittel says. The facelift, he tells GlobeSt.com, included "repainting, new lighting and upgraded landscaping, accomplished for a few $100,000, which made an immediate positive difference."

During 2004, Terranova added Restaurante El Churrasco, Video Avenue, Asia Pacific Grill, Bibi & Bibi, WP Physical Therapy, H&R Block and LaBovick, LaBovick & Wald to the tenant roster that already included Walden Books, Dollar General and Perkins Restaurant. The fate of the Winn-Dixie unit, which is still operating, is unknown, according to Bittel.

Regardless of Winn-Dixie's fate, "the buyer loved the real estate location," he says. "It's in an improving neighborhood, which is experiencing an infusion of younger Latin residents. We and the buyer feel it has a bright future." He says the center is now about 90% leased, "with more tenants to come." The asking rental rates range from $10 per sf to $14 per sf.