MIAMI—More evidence of a commercial real estate resurgence in Pensacola, Walmart Neighborhood Market has traded hand in Pensacola. The price for the 42,296-square-foot retail asset was $4.1 million.

Don McMinn and Zachary Taylor, both vice presidents investments in Marcus & Millichap's Atlanta office, represented the seller, a Tennessee-based developer. Patrick Furlong, associate in the firm's Seattle office, represented the buyer, a private 1031 investor. Kirk Felici, first vice president in the firm's Miami office, is the firm's broker of record in Florida.

“We eventually closed with an all-cash 1031-exchange private investor at a price that was 70 basis better points better than the seller's expectations,” says McMinn. “The below 5% cap rate set a record at the time as the lowest cap rate for a Walmart Neighborhood Market. We are about to bring two more Walmart Neighborhood Market assets to market, one in Atlanta and one in Charleston.”

The retail property is a built-to-suit Walmart Neighborhood Market with a 20-year corporate-guaranteed triple-net ground lease that opened for business in July 2014. The retail asset sits on five acres at the corner of Mobile Road (U.S. Highway 90) and Pine Forest Road in Pensacola, FL.

Publix, Winn Dixie, Walgreens, CVS, McDonald's, Taco Bell, and Auto Zone are among the surrounding national retailers. The Walmart Neighborhood Market is next to 17,900 square feet of retail shops with two retail outparcels and a Murphy USA gas station. There is a 110,000 population within a five-mile radius.

Pensacola is a nexus of transportation that provides easy access to Interstate 10, the Port of Pensacola, CSX railroad, and the Pensacola International Airport. HFF reports investors are warming up to the Panhandle region's retail market.

Earlier in October, the Shoppes at Paradise Isle, a 171,837-square-foot retail power center in Destin, FL, traded hands. Stoltz Real Estate Partners' fifth US diversified fund acquired the retail asset for $32.8 million free and clear of existing debt.

“The sale of the Shoppes at Paradise Isle is another example of how investors are going to secondary markets and buying best-in-class centers to find more yield since pricing in the primary markets has gotten so aggressive,” HFF's Brad Petersen tells GlobeSt.com. “The is the fifth shopping center transaction that HFF has closed in the Florida Panhandle so far in 2014, and we are about to bring another shopping center sale to market in Pensacola in the next 10 days.”