CREC Taps Into Lifestyle Retail Rush

MIAMI—South Florida's retail market is booming louder all the time—and one of the region's largest commercial real estate firms just keeps growing its property management portfolio. That firm is CREC.

CREC is snapping up lifestyle retail assignments in some of South Florida's hottest submarkets. The firm has picked up 11 new retail assignments totaling over 1 million square feet in recent months, including properties in Mary Brickell Village in Miami's Brickell Financial District.

"This is an exciting time for the retail market in South Florida as national and international brands are broadening their presence here and new mixed-use developments, such as the Design District, Brickell City Centre and Miami Worldcenter, will add significant luxury retail," CREC president and cofounder Carol Brooks. "We are also seeing suburban retail centers invest in capital improvements and enhance their tenant mix to deliver a lifestyle focused experience to shoppers. As we head into 2016, the future is bright for South Florida's retail market."

Mary Brickell Village, a 195,000-square-foot complex, is one of the new assets in CREC's lifestyle retail property management portfolio. CREC also picked up Downtown Dadeland, a 127,635-square-foot lifestyle shopping complex in Miami-Dade's Dadeland area owned by Duncan Hillsley Capital, Pebb Capital, and Canyon Capital Realty Advisors.

PGA Commons, a 286,247-square-foot lifestyle center in Palm Beach Gardens owned by Channing Corp, is under CREC's management now, along with Lincoln Center, a retail complex on Lincoln Road. It's just one block from the movie theater Regal South Beach and apparel store Banana Republic.

Wrapping up the list are Atlas Plaza, a high-end retail complex in the Design District owned by New York-based TriStar Capital that is home to the restaurant Michael's Genuine Food & Drink, Wynwood Properties, a retail center in Wynwood also owned by TriStar Capital, and 219 Clematis Building, a retail asset in West Palm Beach owned by a private corporation. CREC will lead day-to-day operations and execute creative marketing and event programming for the properties, as well as oversee property renovations and capital expenditures to augment value.