The Legacy Place shopping center traded for $101.7 million, marking the biggest Palm Beach County retail deal this year.
Yet, the plaza also traded at a loss of nearly 44 percent compared to its last price in 2007.
A joint venture of private equity mammoth Lone Star Funds and retail investor Woolbright Development bought the property at 11290 Legacy Avenue in Palm Beach Gardens, according to a news release from CBRE. The brokerage’s Casey Rosen and Dennis Carson represented the seller in the deal.
An affiliate of Munich, Germany-based GLL Real Estate Partners GmbH sold the 43-acre property. The company paid $180.2 million for Legacy in 2007, a year after it was completed.
GLL, led by Rainer Göbel, is a real estate fund manager for institutional investors that focuses on office, retail and industrial properties, according to its website.
(Facebook via Legacy Place Shops)
The 425,316-square-foot center is 72 percent occupied, according to the release. Some of the anchor tenants are Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, Bassett Furniture, Ethan Allen, Michael’s, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, Petco, The Container Store and Total Wine & More.
The deal comes as the retail market seems to be rebounding from the hit last year caused by the pandemic lockdown and rise in e-commerce.
In the third quarter of this year, rents in parts of South Florida were above pre-pandemic highs, according to a Colliers report. The average asking rent in Palm Beach County was nearly $25 per square foot, higher than the apex of close to $22.50 in the fourth quarter of 2019.
CBRE’s Rosen called it a “rare value-add” opportunity in the release, which means the buyers could increase the asset’s value through capital improvements or higher rents.
Boca Raton-based Woolbright Development, led by Duane Stiller, focuses on retail and has a portfolio of more than 30 properties totaling over 5 million square feet of commercial real estate, according to its website.
Dallas-based Lone Star Funds, led by John Grayken, advises funds in global investments in real estate, equity, credit and other assets, according to its website. It started its first fund in 1995 and since then organized a total of 21 with aggregate capital commitments of over $85 billion.
Lone Star also invests in senior living communities. This summer, the company bought a complex in Palm Beach Gardens and another near Boca Raton for a combined $57 million.