Edens & Avant Purchases Fort Lauderdale’s 155 KSF Union Planters Plaza

October 3, 2011
By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

Union Planters Plaza in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., will come under new ownership, as Edens & Avant acquires the 155,000-square-foot grocery-anchored shopping center from Wharton Realty Group for an undisclosed price.

“In terms of acquisition, we are specifically looking for established retail centers with strong anchor tenants, preferably grocers, with good demographics and high barriers to entry,” Jami Passer, managing director with Edens & Avant, told Commercial Property Executive.

And Union Planters Plaza fits the bill. Occupying more than 14 acres along Federal Hwy., Union Planters Plaza first opened its doors in 1989 and expanded in square footage in 2000. Whole Foods Market presently anchors the single-story property and Dick’s Sporting Goods will join the tenant roster as co-anchor in November. With the latter commitment, the tenant roster is 99 percent full.

“East Ft. Lauderdale is one of the strongest regional markets in Broward County and one of the top submarkets in South Florida,” Passer said. “It is a long-term established market with high barriers to entry and is sought after by many major, national retailers looking to have a presence in South Florida.”

Investors are becoming increasingly interested in Broward County’s retail offerings. Recent transactions include the trade of the 237,000-square-foot Sunshine Plaza in Tamarac, and the 126,000-square-foot Shenandoah Square in Davie. Global Fund Investments joined forces with Israel’s Migdal Insurance Co. and Menora Mivtachim Insurance in August to buy the two Publix grocery store-anchored assets for an aggregate $37 million. By mid-year, sales in the county had exceeded the total transactions for 2010, according to a report by commercial real estate services firm CB Richard Ellis. And there’s more to come “More product availability combined with investor perception that valuations have bottomed should drive higher sales activity in Broward throughout the balance of 2011,” David Donnellan, first vice president with CBRE, contends in the report.

*This story was updated on Oct. 4, 2011, at 11:09 a.m. EST.