TAMPA, FL—Publix at Northridge, a 65,320-square-foot grocery-anchored retail center in Sarasota, has sold for $11.6 million. The deal is subject to existing debt.

HFF senior managing directors Danny Finkle and Brad Peterson, along with director Luis Castillo and real estate analyst Kim Flores, led the sales team representing Kimco. Phillips Edison-ARC Shopping Center REIT Inc. purchased the property.

Finkle tells GlobeSt.com the deal was fairly simple and straightforward. Although the buyer did have to assume a loan—which was a lengthy process—it was not a smooth process.

“This sale supports the well-documented trend of investors pursuing high-quality, high-volume grocery-anchored centers in Florida,” Finkle says. “The stability of strong grocery anchored centers continues to be the top choice of private and institutional investors in primary and secondary markets throughout Florida.”

Located at 5100 Clark Road near the intersection of Honore Avenue within the Palmer Ranch master-planned community in Sarasota, Publix at Northridge was built in 2003. The center sits on 12.4 acres and includes 280 parking spaces.  Publix grocery store occupies 44,840 square feet of the center, which is 84% occupied by seven tenants.

Kimco has been actively and selectively pruning its retail portfolio to focus on select markets across the country. Garrison Invesments recently grabbed a retail center in Orlando from Kimco. The company also recently sold a Winn Dixie-anchored retail center in Apopka, FL to Suso 1 Errol.

“The fundamentals for retail continue to improve with positive occupancy and rental rate trends being experienced in much of Florida,” Finkle says. “This coupled with a low interest rate environment are driving significant amounts of investment capital into the retail markets. The supply of available properties for sale has not met the demand and pricing has benefited as a result.”