MIAMI—Early this week in Florida saw an industry veteran switch allegiances, a massive leasing assignment assigned and some interesting office stats out of a prime market. New construction lending is also closing in Fort Lauderdale.

BY THE NUMBERS

Overall office vacancy in Tampa Bay dropped .5 percentage point over the past 12 months ending the year at 11.9%. The Westshore submarket had the lowest vacancy rate in the county at 9.4%. (Source: Cushman & Wakefield)

NEWS & NOTABLES

ORLANDO—Foundry Commercial announced 34-year industry veteran Susan Ruby has joined its industrial brokerage services team as senior vice president. In her new role, she will continue to grow the landlord practice group and work on the tenant representation business. During her career, she has leased over 17 million square feet and has sold in excess of 18 million square feet of industrial buildings, as well as 550 acres of industrial zoned land. Prior to joining Foundry, she was recruited by top management at JLL to headline the Industrial Services department in January 2009. Prior to JLL, she was the director of industrial at Cushman & Wakefield in 2003, 2005, 2006, as well as the “Top Overall Producer” for Cushman & Wakefield in 2007.

DEAL TRACKER

PLANTATION, FL—Encore Capital Management, the developer of Plantation Walk, the $350 million mixed-use office, retail, residential, and hotel destination, has named CREC to manage leasing of the project's nearly 200,000 square feet of available retail space. Once completed, Plantation Walk will create a downtown-style destination that infuses resort-level hospitality throughout a walkable, seamlessly connected community of shopping, dining, entertainment, living and working.

TAMPA, FL—Cushman & Wakefield negotiated the sale of Bay West, a 195,558-square-foot office property in Tampa, for $20.25 million on behalf of Equus Capital Partners. Buyer RealOP Investments has retained Cushman & Wakefield to handle leasing for the property, which is located in Tampa's Westshore Business District. Bay West consists of eight garden-style office buildings situated on approximately 15.41 acres. The property is 95% occupied with notable tenants including Fidelity National Title, GEICO and Beef 'O' Brady's.

DAYTONA BEACH, FL—Cushman & Wakefield negotiated the sale of a 390-acre residential site fronting Interstate 95 in Volusia County. New Smyrna Beach, FL-based investor Masroc Land acquired the land for $3.3 million, or $8,462 per acre. SVN's Chris Butera represented Masroc Land, in the transaction. The infill residential site, located on the east side of Interstate 95 just south of the Interstate 4/Belleville Road Interchange, features 6,000 feet of frontage on Interstate 95 and 5,400 feet of frontage on Willamson Boulevard. The land has the potential to yield up to 1,000 single-family homes.

SUNRISE, FL—Avison Young secured lease agreements within the Sawgrass International Corporate Park in Sunrise, totaling approximately 185,000 square feet. Greg Martin and Justin Cope of Avison Young completed the transactions on behalf of Vanderbilt Office Properties, adding value to the ownership group's overall class A office portfolio in Sunrise.

BUILDING BLOCKS

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL—SobelCo will close on $26 million in construction financing for its 321 at Water's Edge, a collection of waterfront condominium estates on Fort Lauderdale Beach. The financing is provided by Goldman Sachs Bank USA. Douglas Elliman Development Marketing is the exclusive sales and marketing firm for the development. Interior design is by award-winning Interiors by Steven G. Prices at 321 at Water's Edge start at $1.95 million. The down payment for new buyers is 20%, and 10% 120 days after. Ownership includes an exclusive five-year membership for the private dining club at the Secret Garden fine dining restaurant, located at the nearby Pillars Hotel.

Instant Insights /

Middle Market Digest: This Week in Florida

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