Miami Retail Asset Changes Hands for $71M

Colonial Palms Plaza. Photo by Joe Blazejack, courtesy of Orion Real Estate Group

Orion Real Estate Group and Limestone Asset Management have jointly purchased Colonial Palms Plaza, a 188,389-square-foot retail center in Miami, for $70.5 million. A MetLife Investment Management client sold the asset with the assistance of JLL, which also secured acquisition financing from Goldman Sachs.

Two years ago in March, the joint venture closed on the $32 million purchase of neighboring Pinecrest Town Center, situated about a mile from Colonial Palms Plaza. In September of last year, the owners began a $4 million renovation of the property, with completion slated for the second quarter of this year.

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JLL Capital Markets Senior Managing Director Danny Finkle and Vice President Kim Flores, together with Senior Directors Eric Williams and Jorge Portela, represented the seller of Colonial Palms Plaza. Orion Real Estate President Kevin Sanz led the acquisition of behalf of the new owners.

Retail fundamentals showcase resilience

Colonial Palms Plaza encompasses seven buildings that were completed in 1988 on a 15-acre site. The property was 97.3 percent leased at the time of sale, with more than 29 national, regional, local service and retail services-focused tenants on its roster.

Situated at 13601-13621 S. Dixie Highway, at the southeast corner of U.S. Route 1 and 136th Street, the retail center sits in an area where the daily car traffic reaches roughly 92,800 vehicles. Attracting nearly 2.4 million visits on an annual basis, Colonial Palms Plaza serves a population of 101,637 residents within a 3-mile radius.

Retail transactions are likely to focus on higher-quality assets and solid locations with experiential retail alternatives this year, according to recent PwC insights. The “flight-to-quality” tendency will also have a big impact on the interest of retail investors in the upcoming months.