How Fort Lauderdale Retail Plaza Traded With Hurricane Dorian Looming
PMG Plaza traded without any delays caused by the hurricane threat because it has insurances in place and was bought with cash.
A three-building Fort Lauderdale shopping plaza sold for $15.8 million just before Hurricane Dorian, which didn’t delay the closing.
PMG Plaza had all necessary insurance in place and traded in a cash transaction, both of which allowed the deal to close on time despite the looming threat from Dorian, said Howard Bregman, who was part of the Marcus & Millichap team that sold the plaza.
If the buyer had taken out a bank loan, the deal might have been extended as banks generally consider hurricane impacts before issuing financing.
PMG Airport LLC bought the plaza from PMG Plaza Inc. on Aug. 30 when many Floridians were still wondering where Dorian would land, according to Broward County deed records.
The 38,334-square-foot property northwest of Federal Highway and Sunrise Boulevard at 1101 N. Federal Highway sold for $413 per square foot.
Buyer PMG Airport is led by Haim Yehezkel and Roy Mussaffi, executives at Miami Beach-based commercial property investor Elysee Investments, as well as by Joseph Cohen.
The limited liability company that sold the property is affiliated with a European investment company whose executives decided to sell for estate planning purposes, Bregman said.
Bregman, a Marcus & Millichap first vice president and director of the national retail group, listed the property on behalf of the seller with associate Joseph Granteed. Marcus & Millichap executive managing director Douglas Mandel and associate Elon Gerberg represented the buyer. All four are based in Fort Lauderdale.
“Having that there is insurance in place, the bank might have disregarded the potential hurricane,” Bregman added. “I am only guessing because there was no discussion being that it was an all-cash transaction.”
Hurricane Dorian, which hit the Bahamas as a Category 5 storm, never made landfall in Florida but skirted along the Atlantic coast. A tropical storm watch was issued for much of Broward County in the preceding days as the hurricane stalled and turned over Grand Bahama Island.
PMG Plaza offers upside for the buyer as some of the rents are below market. Its redevelopment potential would allow up to 1 million square feet of structures. A new project could add residential and office space as well as a hotel, although no plans have been made public.
The property is 96% occupied. Tenants include IHOP, Supercuts, Pinch A Penny pool supplies, Cafe Vico and AT&T.