When K&B bought the property in 1998 from Equitable Life Insurance Co. for $1.75 million ($25 per sf), occupancy stood at 30%. The center is now at 95% occupancy with the signing of Publix Supermarkets Inc. to a 20-year, 27,887-sf lease negotiated for the owner by Crow senior vice president/retail John M. Crossman.
"It was a matter of new ownership deciding this strategically-located property could be made profitable again with some effort and planning," Crossman tells GlobeSt.com.
Crossman and the owner declined to value the lease but area brokers familiar with the submarket at Hunt Club Boulevard and Wekiva Springs Road in northwest Orlando tell GlobeSt.com the average rent is $20 per sf. That would make the Publix lease valued at about $557,740 per year or about $11 million for the full term.
Publix plans to demolish a dormant Winn-Dixie Supermarket building next month and erect the new $3 million structure for a May opening. Additional parking and landscaping is part of the construction budget, putting the store's total development cost at about $107 per sf.
Surface parking will total 310 spaces. Crow's Vince Smith, vice president, development services, is overseeing the project.
© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to asset-and-logo-licensing@alm.com. For more inforrmation visit Asset & Logo Licensing.