DESTIN, FL—The Shoppes at Paradise Isle, a 171,837-square-foot retail power center in Destin, FL, has a new owner. Stoltz Real Estate Partners' fifth US diversified fund acquired the retail asset for $32.8 million free and clear of existing debt.

HFF marketed the property on behalf of the seller, Weingarten Realty Investors.  HFF senior managing director Brad Peterson and associate director Whitaker Leonhardt brokered the deal.

“The sale of the Shoppes at Paradise Isle is another example of how investors are going to secondary markets and buying best-in-class centers to find more yield since pricing in the primary markets has gotten so aggressive,” Petersen tells GlobeSt.com. “The is the fifth shopping center transaction that HFF has closed in the Florida Panhandle so far in 2014, and we are about to bring another shopping center sale to market in Pensacola in the next 10 days.”

The Shoppes at Paradise Isle sits on 17.7 acres at 34940 Emerald Coast Parkway at the 17-lane intersection of US Highway 98 and Mid-Bay Bridge Road. That's the epicenter of the most dominant retail trade area between Pensacola and Panama City. Completed in 2005, the property is 89.7% leased and anchored by Best Buy, Big Lots, Michaels, PetSmart, Ulta, and Office Depot.

“It is no exaggeration to say that the intersection of the Emerald Coast Parkway and the Mid-Bay Bridge is the best retail intersection in 40 miles,” says Peterson. “Destin's economy is booming, and retailers are clamoring for the few remaining spaces that are available in the area. Shoppes at Paradise Isle is one of the hallmark retail assets in the Florida Panhandle, so it is no surprise that it received very strong interest from the investment community.”