(Crystal Proenza is associate editor of Real Estate Florida.)

WELLINGTON, FL-Rockville, MD-based Federal Realty Investment Trust has acquired Courtyard Shops, a 127,000-sf Publix-anchored shopping center located in the Village of Wellington, for $37.9 million in an all-cash transaction. That price included the assumption of an existing $8.1 million loan. The owner, an institutional client of AEW Capital Management, sold as the property was nearing the end of its projected hold period with stabilized occupancy and maximized near-term value, says Danny Finkle, managing director with the Miami office of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP, which represented the seller in the deal.

Federal had just recently entered the South Florida market with its purchase of the 153,595-sf Del Mar Village in Boca Raton for $42 million, as reported by GlobeSt.com in June. That deal was also an all-cash transaction. The company is taking advantage of opportunities available in the area due to the state of the market, says Barry Carty, senior director of acquisitions for Federal Realty.

"Our intent is to grow a portfolio in South Florida consistent with the quality we have in other markets," Carty tells GlobeSt.com. "Our strategy is, in effect, to try to buy them one at time and find the right pieces to fit our story."