Dutch Entities Sell 3 Broward Shopping Centers

MIAMI-A Dutch public corporation and two Dutch limited partnerships, all entities involving Jan Dane, have each recently sold shopping centers in South Florida’s Broward County. The centers total 388,000 sf, and the sale prices total more than $50 million.Dutch investment fund DIM Vastgoed NV, which trades on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, sold the 144,000-sf, 11-year-old Ramblewood Square in Coral Springs, FL to Dallas-based Invesco Realty Advisors for $21.12 million. Publix-anchored Ramblewood, located at junction of University Dr. and Ramblewood Dr., is the first of DIM Vastgoed’s South Florida properties to be sold. DIM Vastgoed bought the center for $15 million in 1997. Other Ramblewood tenants include Party Supermarket and Blockbuster.In two other deals expected to close in early December, Houston-based Weingarten is paying nearly $29 million combined for Vizcaya Square in Plantation, FL and Embassy Lakes Shopping Center in Cooper City, FL. Weingarten agreed to pay $15.07 million for the 112,000-sf Vizcaya Square, located at Nob Hill Rd. and Cleary Blvd. This five-year-old center is anchored by Winn-Dixie. Other tenants include Blockbutser, Starbucks and Einstein Bros. Bagels. DIM-Vizcaya paid $13.05 million for the property in January 1997. Weingarten is purchasing the 132,000-sf, nine-year-old Embassy Lakes center, on Sheridan St. at Hiatus Rd., for $13.85 million. DIM-Embassy paid $13.2 million for it in October 1996. Tenants there include Winn-Dixie, Walgreens and Tuesday Morning.All three centers average 98% occupancy.Jan Dane–president of Holland-based DIM Vastgoed–is a general partner in both DIM-Vizcaya and DIM-Embassy, along with Barry Ross. Ross, president of Ross Realty Investments Inc. of Davie, FL, lives in Fort Lauderdale six months of the year and in Breda, Holland the other six months.Dane Belt Ross Asset Management, based in Fort Lauderdale, handles acquisition, property management, leasing and sales for all three entities. Dane, Ross and A.J. Belt serve as partners in the management firm. Ross Realty has been hired by Dane Belt Ross to handle leasing and sales when the properties are ready to be sold. Blackrock Realty Advisors represented the buyer of Ramblewood. No other brokers were involved in the two partnership deals. Ross tells GlobeSt.com that due to a U.S. treaty “it is extremely tax beneficial for Dutch citizens to invest in U.S. real estate if it’s properly structured.” Taxes are paid here by the partnerships so income flows through to Dutch citizens without any income tax in Holland up to a certain point, he says.”There’s a big savings to be able to pay your taxes here,” he adds, noting DIM Vastgoed is “always looking for more properties.” The company is focusing on the Southeast, especially Charlotte and Raleigh, NC; Atlanta and “virtually all of Florida.” DIM Vastgoed wants to more than double its current holdings to approximately 4 million sf of retail space in the next five years.