Foreign Investors Pay $338 Per SF for Shoppes at Doral

MIAMI-The locally based unit of FIRC Group sold Shoppes at Doral here for just under $10.2 million, or $338.33 per sf, for the 30,000-sf strip center at SW 41st Street and SW 107th Avenue. The buyers are private investors from Venezuela and Greece.

This sale follows Equity One's recent acquisition of Young Circle Center in Hollywood for $334 per sf, as GlobeSt.com reported last week. These price tags are approximately double the prices paid for retail real estate during the first quarter of the year. While air space and an opportunity to build above Young Circle Center accounted for that high price, "that is not the case with Shoppes at Doral," Larry Randolph, executive director of Advantis/GVA's Tampa-based investment services group, tells GlobeSt.com.

"This is strictly an income-producing investment for these buyers," he says. "The price of oil has skyrocketed in Venezuela and there is an abundance of capital flowing into the US in general and Miami in particular as a result. These investors are looking to put money in real estate here." As for the Greek buyer, Randolph says the weak dollar is a contributing factor. "And this is Miami and Doral, an area that is undergoing an unprecedented boom."

He and his colleague Brad Luger, also an executive director with Advantis/GVA, represented FIRC in the transaction. Shoppes at Doral was built in 2001 and is 100% leased, Randolph says. Among the tenants are Doral Jewelers, Don Pan, which is a Cuban bakery; the sales office for Keyes Co., a residential real estate firm' and a couple of upscale restaurants.