Ft. LAUDERDALE, FL, Oak Brook, Illinois- based Inland Real Estate Acquisitions purchased two shopping centers in Tradition, a Port Lucie planned development community on Florida’s Treasure Coast, roughly 40 minutes north of West Palm Beach. The price for the two properties was nearly $74 million on June 10th.

The two centers, The Landing at Tradition, with 498,332 square feet, and Tradition Village Center, with 102,421 square feet, are located across the street from each other. The former is anchored by a 138,468-square foot Target, (which was not included in the sale because it owns its own store) TJ Maxx, Bed Bath & Beyond and Old Navy. The latter is anchored by a 45,600-square foot Publix.

The seller of the shopping centers was Core Communities, which developed Tradition, one of the largest planned unit developments on the East Coast. “Core had planned to sell the centers all along,” says Steve Miskew, managing director at RJS Realty Group who was one of the brokers representing the owners in the deal.

The Tradition Village Center was built in 2006 and the Landing in 2007 before the completion of the adjacent 150-acre Florida Center for Innovation, home to the Torey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies, the Oregon Health & Science University’s Vaccine Gene Therapy Institute and the Mann Research Center.

The Port St. Lucie area had a dearth of retail centers before The Landing at Tradition and the Tradition Village Center were built, says Miskew. “The market was under-served,” he says. It is about 30 miles from Palm Beach County where there is a lot more retail, says Miskew. Before the two centers were built, the only significant collection of big box stores was in Palm Beach County, he says.

“We had a significant level of interest in these (retail) assets from many of the industry’s most capable Investors,” says Miskew.

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