It will be Duke's first retail project in Brevard County and Central Florida. Duke has a second retail venture under way in Pembroke Pines, South Florida. The Indiana developer paid locally based RW Kirk Trust-Bob Kirk Realty $8 million, or $307,692 per acre ($7.06 per sf), for a 26-acre tract at State Roads 405 and 50. Duke anticipates opening the center by fall 2006.

The Orlando office of Colliers Arnold Commercial Real Estate Services Inc. negotiated the land deal for Duke and is also the center's leasing manager. The seller represented itself. The tract was on the market for about a year. The deal took six months to complete, from contract signing to closing. Duke also plans to develop two multi-tenant out-parcel buildings on the site.

Colliers Arnold senior vice president Susan Morris and associates Kane Morris-Webster and Jill Rose tell GlobeSt.com they have already signed "a major anchor" to about 130,000 sf but declined to identify the merchant until the deal closes. The projected average base rent range for non-anchors will be $25 to $30 per sf, Rose says.