REI is trekking down to South Florida.
The outdoor retailer signed a lease for a 23,000-square-foot store in Boca Raton that’s expected to open this fall, according to a press release. REI Co-op will open at Uptown Boca, a retail and apartment development at Glades Road and 95th Avenue South, east of U.S. 441.
Schmier Property Group, Giles Capital Group and Rosemurgy Properties, in partnership with Wheelock Street Capital, are developing the 38-acre project with 155,000 square feet of retail space and 456 luxury apartments. Apartment leasing is expected to begin in the next few months.
REI’s Uptown Boca location will include a bike shop and personal outfitting services. REI’s other Florida stores are in Jacksonville and Winter Park, near Orlando. The company has 162 stores in 39 states, according to its website. It’s planning to open stores in Gainesville in the spring and in Tampa next year. REI said it’s the largest consumer co-op with more than 18 million members.
The retail component of Uptown Boca is 98 percent leased, according to the release. Tenants include Naked Taco, Sloan’s Ice Cream, Sport Clips, The Joint, Tide Cleaners, L’Eggspress, Chick-fil-A, Silverspot Cinema, Lucky’s Market, Lynora’s Osteria, Olive U Mediterranean Grill, F45 Training, Tipsy Salonbar, Bolay and BurgerFi.
Uptown Boca’s developers closed on a $125 million construction loan for the project last year from Jutland Finance, a subsidiary of British Columbia Investment Management Corp.
They paid $38 million for the agricultural land on the southwest corner of Glades Road and 95th Avenue South, in June 2018.