Colonial Properties Spends $82M on Three Retail Centers

MIAMI-Colonial Properties Trust purchased three South Florida retail properties from Ross Matz Investments Inc. for a total gross price of nearly $81.7 million. The largest property in the sale is the Deerfield Mall, a 371,000-sf, more than 95%-leased outdoor mall in Deerfield Beach anchored by Publix, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, the Sports Authority, Sunrise Cinemas and OfficeMax.

A partnership of Ross Matz Investments Inc. bought the mall from Investcorp of New York for $42.6 million, or $114.82 per sf, in January 2003, at which time buying partnership principal Barry Ross said the mall suffered from delayed maintenance. As a condition of that sale, the mall, located at 3984 W. Hillsboro Blvd, would get a significant renovation. The $1 million in upgrades included painting, a new facade and awnings, landscaping, pressure cleaning of sidewalks and parking lot improvements. The mall had a grand reopening Nov. 22. Investcorp paid $34.7 million for the mall in late 1999.

The recent sale to Colonial Properties Trust also included College Parkway Center, an 82,000-sf center that Office Depot anchors in Fort Myers, and Office Depot Plaza, a 68,000-sf center in Pembroke Pines with Office Depot, Sound Advice and CompUSA on the tenant roster. The three-property sale involved the buyer assuming $49 million in existing property debt.