Publix Buys Two More Shopping Centers

ORLANDO—Two Publix-anchored shopping centers have traded hands—one in New Smyrna Beach and the other in Tallahassee. Once again, the buyer is none other than Publix Super Markets. The grocery-store chain has been snapping up some of the retail centers it calls home this year. Publix recently acquired retail assets from a Canadian group.

HFF represented the seller, Equity One. New Smyrna Beach Regional, a 118,451-square-foot, multi-tenant retail center in New Smyrna Beach, FL, sold for $16 million. Forest Village, a 71,526-square-foot, multi-tenant retail center in Tallahassee, sold for $7 million.

“These properties presented investors with an opportunity to acquire two seasoned and successful shopping centers,” HFF senior managing director Brad Peterson tells GlobeSt.com. “HFF has sold 23 Publix-anchored shopping centers in Florida since 2012, and we continue to see very strong demand for these types of retail investments.”

New Smyrna Beach Regional sits on 19.8 acres on State Road 44 in New Smyrna Beach. It is the largest multi-tenant retail center in the area. Built in 1987, the strip center is 90% occupied. In addition to Publix, Dollar Tree, Pet Supermarket, and Metcare of Florida are tenants.

Forest Village is located at the intersection of Crawfordville Road and Capital Circle Southwest in Tallahassee. The intersection has a daily traffic count of about 36,400 cars. It sits on 15.9 acres with an additional 15.4 acres of undeveloped land, which was included in the sale. Built in 2000, the property is 79% occupied to tenants including Publix, Rent-A-Center, Pizza Hut, and The UPS Store.

The HFF team representing the seller was led by Peterson and real estate analyst Whitaker Leonhardt. In Florida, HFF closed more than $134 million in retail transactions across all capital markets platforms during the first quarter of 2014.