Despite slowdowns in other sectors, South Florida’s retail market held strong through 2023.
Asking rents held steady, and vacancies remained low. Fitness-focused businesses dominated the region’s biggest retail leases. Gyms, sporting goods stores and sports entertainment spaces took hundreds of thousands of square feet across the tri-county area. Home goods stores and grocers were also among South Florida’s top tenants.
Here are the 10 biggest retail leases in South Florida in 2023:
1. 147K sf | Dick’s Sporting Goods | Miami
Dick’s Sporting Goods inked the biggest lease of the year, taking more than 147,000 square feet at Dadeland Mall at 7535 North Kendall Drive in Miami. The sporting goods retailer signed a seven-year lease with Simon Property Group subsidiary SDG Dadeland Associates in October, according to ConnectCRE. The space was previously occupied by Nordstrom, which closed several locations in the wake of a pandemic, including two stores in San Francisco.
Dick’s Sporting Goods is based in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, and is among the largest sporting goods retailers in the United States. It has more than 850 stores across the country, and is pioneering a concept store dubbed “House of Sport.” The Miami location will be a House of Sport store, according to published reports.
2. 120K sf | Flying Squirrel Sports | Miami
Indoor trampoline park, Flying Squirrel Sports, signed the second biggest lease of the year, for 120,000 square feet at 12350 Southwest Eighth Street in Miami. Transformco Properties, led by Scott Carr, leased the property, according to the firm’s website.
Based in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, Flying Squirrel Sports was founded by Cody Schueler in 2015. It has a dozen sites spread across Florida, Washington, Montana and Idaho, its website shows. The indoor trampoline park firm generated $20.5 million in revenue annually, according to ZoomInfo.
3. 114K sf | At Home | Miami
Plano, Texas-based home goods retailer At Home landed the third largest lease of 2023, taking 114,000 square feet at 14091 Southwest 88th Street in Miami. The space was formerly a Kmart, as the big box retailer has rapidly closed its once numerous shops since 2019. The last Kmart in New Jersey closed this fall, and with the Miami location closing, it has just one shop left in Bridgehampton, New York.
At Home now has more than 240 stores across the country, including another former Kmart in the Bronx. The firm is a subsidiary of Hellman & Friedman, a private equity firm based in San Francisco.
4. 65K sf | Topgolf | Pompano Beach
Another sports entertainment brand, Topgolf, leased a 65,000-square-foot facility at the Pomp at 777 Isle Of Capri in Pompano Beach. Following a 2021 merger with Callaway, Topgolf aims to open more than a dozen sites a year in a bid for a national expansion, according to published reports. The brand currently has nine Florida facilities, according to its website.
The Pomp is a 225-acre mixed-use project led by Baltimore-based Cordish Companies and Reno-based Caesars Entertainment. It includes the renovated Harrah’s Pompano Beach Casino. The partners sold a 87.8-acre site within the project to Boston-based Rockhill Management for $180 million in November.
5. 53K sf | Crunch Fitness | Sunrise
In Sunrise, Crunch Fitness inked a lease for 53,000 square feet at 9919 West Oakland Park Boulevard. The New York City-based gym, led by CEO Jim Rowley, has more than 400 gyms across the country. Its founder, Douglas Levine, is now trying his hand at real estate investing in South Florida, where he bought a $17.8 million retail property in Little Haiti.
Records show Realty Income bought the Sunrise building for $6.2 million in 2010. CEO Sumit Roy leads the San Diego-based company. In October, Realty announced it would acquire Spirit Realty Capital for $9.3 billion.
6. 45K sf | Presidente Supermarket | Miramar
In Miramar, Presidente Supermarket took 45,000 square feet at 6251 Southwest County Line Road. Records show Manward and Doris Ng bought the building for $5.6 million in 2004.
Presidente Supermarket has at least 30 grocery stores across South Florida. The supermarket chain’s cofounder, Manuel Marin, was sentenced to life in prison in May, according to NBC Miami. He was convicted of manslaughter, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, and kidnapping charges in relation to the 2011 killing of Camilo Salazar, who was allegedly having an affair with Marin’s then-wife.
7. 40K sf | Restoration Hardware | Pembroke Pines
Restoration Hardware signed one of the biggest retail leases of the year, for 40,000 square feet at 11450 Pines Boulevard in Pembroke Pines. It isn’t the only move the luxury home goods brand, led by RH CEO Gary Friedman, made in South Florida this year. The brand also bid to redevelop Nikki Beach Club in Miami Beach. RH’s proposal included a $170 million investment into the beach club, but the Boucher Brothers won the bid in September.
8. 38K sf | El Bodegon | Royal Palm Beach
In Royal Palm Beach, Gloria Rincon’s El Bodegon supermarket took more than 38,000 square feet at 10109 Southern Boulevard. JBL Asset Management bought the shopping center for $20.6 million in 2018.
El Bodegon has stores across Palm Beach and Broward Counties, and specializes in Latin foods.
9. 38K sf | Club Studio | Miami
Club Studio, a fitness club and subsidiary of LA Fitness, landed 38,400 square feet at Grove Central at 2718 Southwest 28th Lane in Miami.
Grove Central is a mixed-use development by Terra and Grass River Property, in partnership with Miami-Dade County. Other tenants at Grove Central include Sprouts Farmers Market, Total Wine, Five Below and Target.
10. 37.5K sf | Whole Foods | Boca Raton
Whole Foods took more than 37,500 square feet at 20940 Uptown Avenue in Boca Raton. The grocery giant has more than 500 stores across the U.S. The complex’s owner, Atlanta-based Cortland, bought it from Giles Capital Group, Rosemurgy Properties, Schmier Property Group and Wheelock Street Capital for $230 million in 2021.
Source: TRD analysis of brokerage data, as provided by Colliers and Cushman & Wakefield.