900,000-SF Belz Centers To Change Hands for Estimated $180M

ORLANDO-In the biggest retail investment deal of the year to date, The Lightstone Group of Lakewood, NJ has contracted to buy the 700,000-sf Belz Factory Outlet World and the 200,000-sf Belz Designer Outlet Center, both 12 miles from Walt Disney World. A closing date hasn't been set.

Representatives of the sellers, joint venture partners Estein & Associates USA Ltd. of Orlando and Prime Retail of Baltimore, couldn't be reached at GlobeSt.com's publication deadline to learn details of the deal; however, a Lightstone Group representative tells GlobeSt.com Prime Retail will manage the acquired properties.

Area retail and industrial brokers familiar with the 24-year-old properties tell GlobeSt.com the two assets probably traded for an estimated $200 per sf or a total $180 million.

"The location of these two properties alone, at Interstate 4 and the Florida Turnpike, easily makes the land a prudent acquisition at this time," an Orlando industrial broker not associated with the deal tells GlobeSt.com. The properties are in the center of the International Drive and Universal Studious tourist corridors.

The properties were built in phases at Oak Ridge Road and International Drive between 1981 and 1998 by Memphis-based Belz Enterprises Inc. Belz Designer Outlet Center has 45 tenants including Kenneth Cole, Bose, Guess, DKNY, Off 5th-Saks Fifth Avenue Outlet, Polo Ralph Lauren Factory Store and Ann Taylor Factory Store.

Belz Factory Outlet World has 170 brand-name stores. They include Foot Locker, the Gap Outlet, Mikasa Factory Outlet, Liz Claiborne, Nautica and Van Heusen Factory Store. Belz Factory Outlet World comprises two fully enclosed malls and four annexes. The properties face Interstate 4 and the Florida Turnpike, the state's busiest intersection with an estimated 80,000 vehicles passing daily.