SARASOTA, FL-Casto Lifestyle Properties is joint venturing with JPMorgan Asset Management on five Florida mixed-use centers. The Casto-developed assets, of which Morgan's Strategic Property Fund will acquire a 50% share, are worth $300 million, according to the parties.

Three of the centers are in Sarasota: the 170,000-sf Main Street at Lakewood Ranch, the 27,000-sf St. Armand's Circle, and the 60,000-sf Whole Foods Market Centre, which also has 95 luxury condos attached. Winter Park (FL) Village contains 350,000 sf of retail, 114,000 sf of office and 60,000 sf of residential. The deal also includes Lakeside Village, a 500,000-sf development in Lakeland.

The deal could lead to other transactions between the two firms, says locally-based Casto Lifestyle's management. This first transaction allows the firm to pursue further developments and transactions.

Casto Lifestyle is an arm of Columbus, OH-based developer Casto. The division is currently developing Sarasota Bayside, a mixed-use project on the city's waterfront, as well as Morrison Place, a center in Charlotte, NC, with 127,500 sf of retail, 261 luxury condos and 293 apartments. The parent company owns 88 retail centers, most of them in the Midwest. In July the firm acquired two North Carolina retail assets, totaling 364,064 sf. The company also owns and manages about 4,500 residential units.