MIAMI—Walmart is expanding rapidly in Florida, and especially in Miami. What's behind the growth? In a word, population. Florida just surpassed New York to become the third most populous state in the nation. Florida is a hot retail market and Walmart is taking full advantage of the opportunity.

Case in point: a new Walmart Neighborhood Market opened on Tuesday in Miami Gardens. And that's just one in a string of Florida openings or new planned store announcements over the past six months. 

The City of Miami got its very first Walmart in November. The new retail store was part of Walmart's plan to open 270 to 300 small-format locations in 2014.

But it's not just new development. Walmart is attracting plenty of investment dollars as it continues its Florida expansion.

In November, for example, Aztec Group managing directors Jason Shapiro and Jim Fried and director Sean Harrington secured the financing for the borrowers, a locally-owned retail investment group. The shopping centers included the redevelopment of the former Hollywood Fashion Mall in Hollywood to be anchored by a Walmart Supercenter, and a Tamarac shopping center that will soon house a new Walmart Neighborhood Market.

Further north, a Walmart Neighborhood Market traded hands in Pensacola, FL in October. The price for the 42,296-square-foot retail asset was $4.1 million, representing a record low cap rate. And last October, a Walmart Neighborhood Market traded hands in Pensacola for $4.1 million. The below 5% cap rate set a record at the time as the lowest cap rate for a Walmart Neighborhood Market, according to Don McMinn, a vice president of investments in Marcus & Millichap's Atlanta office.

Back in August, Mayan Properties bet $5 million in Riverbend Marketplace, a 190,000-square-foot retail shopping center under construction in Broward County. Mayan is the investment arm of merchant banking firm Aztec Group. The Riverbend project will bring the first Walmart Supercenter to the City of Fort Lauderdale, FL.

In Jacksonville, FL, we saw Walmart backfill about three old Food Lion boxes with plans to convert several other locations. And less than a year ago Fort Lauderdale got its first Walmart.

Of course, Walmart developments, financing and trades are popular beyond Miami. Lakeland, FL, Tampa, FL and New Port Richey, FL all got a new Walmarts this week and Clearwater got a Walmart last month. Just Monday, Walmart announced its 500^th Neighborhood Market opened. The location was Springfield, Mo.

The first Walmart Neighborhood Market opened in 1998. All told, Walmart operates over 11,000 stores in 27 countries around the world. Can Walmart keep up this pace of expansion? Sound off.