MMG Equity Partners dropped $17M to add another Plantation shopping center to its portfolio.
An affiliate of the Pinecrest-based commercial real estate firm bought Plantation Community Plaza, a 35,850-square-foot retail building at 234-268 South University Drive, according to records. The deal also includes 19,680 square feet of office suites at 120-150 South University Drive that are tucked behind the shopping center.
MMG Equity, led by principals Gabriel Navarro, Marcel Navarro and Martin Pico, obtained a $4.9 million acquisition loan from Apollo Bank, records show.
In May, MMG Equity paid $12 million for a shopping center on North University Drive, also in Plantation.
The seller in the latest deal is IAC Properties, a company managed by Marvin Feinstein of Plantation, according to state corporate records. IAC bought the retail component for $1 million in 1975, the same year the building was completed, records show. In 1990, IAC acquired the office suites for $6.1 million. The suites were built in 1978.
David Donnellan and Patricia Friend of CBRE represented the seller.
In a statement, Marcos Puente, MMG’s Director of Acquisitions, said the company’s latest acquisition offers great long-term value given its location, the existing roster of tenants, Plantation’s growing population and rental rates that are about 30 percent below market.
The shopping center is 88 percent occupied, according to CBRE. Tenants include Vitamin Shoppe, Relax The Back, Mustard Seed Bistro and Marian’s Bagels.
As the retail market rebounded in the past year, investors have flocked to outdoor shopping centers, especially those anchored by grocery stores. Retail buyers dumped $5 billion into grocery-anchored retail centers in the third quarter, the second-highest dollar amount for a single quarter in a decade, according to CBRE.
As 2021 closes out, there’s been a flurry of shopping center trades in South Florida, punctuated by the recent $108 million sale of Beacon Lakes in northwest Miami-Dade. AEW Capital Management bought the massive retail property from a joint venture between Stiles and Lubert-Adler Real Estate Funds.
Also this month, German-based Union Investment paid $79.5 million for the fully leased Fountains of Boynton. The Boynton Beach shopping center is anchored by a Publix. And in Davie, Miami Heat minority partner and real estate investor Raanan Katz bought three shopping centers for $28.7 million.