Pritzker's Baldwin Park Sells First Parcel for $22M

The price and size of the retail tract wasn't disclosed in a prepared statement from David Pace, managing director, Baldwin Park Development Co. Pace couldn't be reached by GlobeSt.com's publication deadline. But area brokers and retail consultants familiar with the project tell GlobeSt.com on condition of anonymity they estimate Unicorp purchased about 50 acres and paid about $22 million or $435,455 per acre for the dirt.

"For example, on a typical regional mall, a developer would need one acre for every 10,000 sf of development," says an Orlando retail consultant.

Unicorp's first $50 million phase is expected to have 185,000 sf of retail, 20,000 sf of office and 197 apartment units. A Publix Supermarket and three banks will anchor the retail portion of the project, which will include Asian and Mexican food restaurants, a pizza parlor, eyewear shop, nail salon, spa, dry cleaners and an electric-vehicles dealer.

"The mix of shops, restaurants and office space will make the Village Center a draw, not just for residents but for neighbors in surrounding areas as well," Pace says in the statement. Village Center is approved for 225,000 sf of office and 240,000 sf of retail.

Penny Pritzker, president of Pritzker Realty Co., heads the $2 billion Baldwin Park enterprise which tentatively plans one million sf of office, 300,000 sf of retail, 3,000 homes and apartments and an undetermined amount of additional commercial. Baldwin Park is expected to take about eight years to complete, company officials have previously projected.

Unicorp National Developments, headed by Lee Maher and Chuck Whittall, is a preferred developer for Eckerd Drug Stores, Starbucks Coffee, Seven-11, Payless Shoe Source, Bell South Mobility and 1-800 Flowers. The company recently developed Fountains at Bay Hill, a power center in Orlando's affluent Bay Hill golf course district.

Unicorp's portfolio consists of 32 commercial properties, including shopping centers and stand-alone retail shops totaling $100 million in assets, according to the company's Web site. The 14-person company has a satellite office in New York.