Advantis analysts Sasha Pardy, Michael and Jeffrey Pocklington and Martin Forster, who jointly prepared the study, see total investment volume slowing for the rest of the year; price per sf increasing slightly; and the number of neighborhood shopping center sales decreasing.

However, even if investment volume dips, the numbers will probably continue to top the 2004 performance, other retail brokers tell GlobeSt.com. Advantis figures show 90 transactions totaling 6.78 million sf and valued at 928.6 million closed in 2005--nearly doubling the 2004 level.

The GVA Advantis investment volume curve shows $277 million in deals done in 2001; $257 million in 2002; $310 million in 2003; and $509 million in 2004. By sf traded, the chart shows three million in 2001; 3.2 million in 2002; 2.9 million in 2003; and 4.9 million in 2004. On closed deals, there were 54 in 2001; 71 in 2002; 75 in 2003; and 76 in 2004.

Unanchored retail centers are the most popular investment type while sales of drug stores command the highest prices. As an example, the unanchored, 25,500-sf, 15-year-old Sand Lake Plaza at 1431 Sand Lake Rd. in south Orlando sold for $10.25 million and generated a record per-sf price of $401.96 in 2005, as GlobeSt.com previously reported. Sand Lake Plaza LLC bought the property from Retlaw Ltd. Partnership at a cap rate of 7.5%.

Although grocery-anchored neighborhood retail centers have been the preferred investment of institutional owners in the past few years, Pardy expects that romance to dim somewhat this year because of the Florida pullout of Kash-N-Karry; the closing of numerous Winn-Dixie stores; and the sale of Idaho-based Albertson's to SuperValu Inc. of Eden Prairie, MN.

"Retail investors have started to question grocery-anchored retail as a 'sure thing' and are increasing their investment in specialty retail, drug stores, power centers, community centers and unanchored retail," says Pardy, director of research and marketing at GVA Advantis.

Still, she notes, in Orlando, a Publix-anchored retail center is "the desired commodity" demonstrated by an average price per sf of $201.74, which has doubled since 2001.

Michael P. Pocklington, a partner in the Pocklington, Pocklington & Forster Retail Investment Group within GVA Advantis, feels drug stores have become "a more valuable retail investment in recent years for three obvious reasons--they are 100% leased; there is a movement of Baby Boomers into an age where a nearby pharmacy is a necessary neighbor; and there is an increasing use of the neighborhood pharmacy as a convenience store for the general consumer population."

Pocklington notes that in metro Orlando, the average price per sf of a drug store has increased to $319.92, "making it the most expensive category."

Jeffrey L. Pocklington, another member of the Pocklington Group, finds "there are only two major players in the Orlando drug store category--Walgreens and CVS." He says CVS "has made a seamless transition into the marketplace via its takeover of Eckerds stores in 2003, and Orlando residents are witnessing construction of additional pharmacies on corners across the market."

GVA Advantis broker Martin Forster says recent data from New York-based Real Capital Analytics on Orlando's buyer profile matches the GVA Advantis findings. Real Capital finds the buyer makeup in 2005 in the mall category was 37% REIT and 63% private. In the strip center column, it was 17% REIT, 2% user and 81% private.

"This is in line with our statistics which show that unanchored and freestanding retail buildings, which private investors can afford, accounted for 61% of all retail investment transactions in 2005," Forster says.