FORT PIERCE, FL-Within the next month, developers will begin demolition of the 168,000-sf Coral Square Shoppes shopping center, which is being redeveloped. New York-based Coral Square Shoppes Fla LLC, an affiliate of the Roberts Organization, acquired the 10%-occupied center last year for a bargain-basement price of $6.6 million, or $39.29 per sf, with plans to spend $20 million to reconfigure the property into a high-end, open-air power and lifestyle center.

Randy Tulepan, a principal in Coral Springs-based Tulepan Management LLC, also an affiliate of the Roberts Organization, tells GlobeSt.com the company is in discussions with several big box retailers for the site and is close to signing a deal. "We're targeting soft goods and clothing retailers," Tulepan says.

The site has several outparcels so chain restaurants and banks are also being targeted for the site, he adds.

In another transaction, Orange Avenue Shoppes LLC, in conjunction with Tulepan, has acquired a 35-acre site zoned for commercial use on Orange Avenue in St. Lucie County for $9.5 million. The all-cash acquisition was made on behalf of the Roberts Organization. The company plans to develop a 330,000-sf retail power/lifestyle center on the site with restaurants and an entertainment component. A site plan is being developed with plans to begin construction in the third quarter of 2007. "We felt it was an excellent location in a growing market," Tulepan says.