VERO BEACH, FL—The Shoppes at Vero Mall, a 13,000-square-foot retail strip center in Vero Beach, FL, has traded hands. The property was 79% occupied at the time of sale.

Greeley Retail Partners, LLC of San Francisco acquired the property for $2.45 million, or $186.54 per square foot, from IRM Milan Investments, Inc., of Vero Beach. The retail center is located at 6480 20th Street, Vero Beach, Florida.

CBRE vice president William Strauss represented the seller. Mattress Firm, the leading mattress retailer in the United States, occupies about 50% of the gross leasable area.

“There is a shortage of well-located retail properties to purchase, and as a result, buyers are aggressively competing for properties with national tenants,” says Strauss. “The buyer in this instance needed to fulfill a 1031 tax exchange requirement and found the long-term lease with Mattress Firm, property location and newer construction appealing. The buyer purchased the property as a long-term hold and plans to increase the property value through the lease-up of the vacant space.”

Built in 2006, Shoppes at Vero Mall is located at the epicenter of retail activity in Vero Beach at the main entrance to the Indian River Mall, an 860,000-square-foot regional mall owned by Simon Property Group. Macy's, Dillard's, Sears, and JC Penny anchor the mall.