Activity Spurs Retail Investor To Open Miami Office

MIAMI-Columbia, SC-based Edens & Avant is expanding its presence in South Florida with the opening a regional headquarters. The company also has regional offices in Boston, Washington, DC and Atlanta.

Jami Passer has been named vice president-South Florida and will oversee the company's development, redevelopment and acquisition activities in the market. The company develops, owns and operates neighborhood shopping plazas on the East Coast. It currently has four properties under contract for acquisition and plans to develop another three projects in the Miami area. Passer tells GlobeSt.com that it is premature to discuss details of the acquisitions or development plans. However, the company plans to acquire properties consistent with those already in its portfolio. "These will be properties in densely populated, high income, and high barrier-to-entry areas. We will target opportunities to acquire or redevelop existing centers in these locations and will aggressively pursue ground-up development opportunities including mixed-use projects," Passer says.

Prior to joining the company, Passer was a partner and consultant with real estate advisory firm P3 Partners. She has also served as managing director in Anderson Corporate Finance's real estate capital market groups. "Our approach has been to establish a strong ownership presence in targeted metro areas and manage our activities through local real estate experts. As a native of Miami with extensive experience, we are very pleased Jami is leading the charge for us in this important role in Miami," says Edens & Avant CEO Terry Brown in a prepared statement.

Edens & Avant owns more than 170 retail centers in 18 states. Among the 17 properties it owns in Florida include Oakwood Square, a 175,067-sf center in Boynton Beach; Beachway Plaza, a 56,276-sf center in Dania Beach; and Rio Pinar Plaza, a 113,620-sf center in Orlando.