Although Design Row was not among the properties named in the recent foreclosure suits, the property may have been at risk of default with its 31 percent occupancy rate. Donnellan says he's not sure if the $7.25 million sale price on Design Row was good for the seller or good for the buyer. "It depends on how quickly the market turns around and how quickly the buyer can get the space leased up," he says. Design Row LLC paid cash for the property and seems prepared to wait out the storm.

Barry Somerstein, a partner in the Ft. Lauderdale office of Ruden McClosky, tells GlobeSt.com he would be surprised if a developer could replace the Design Row Shopping Center, much less purchase the Coral Springs land, for the $77-per-square-foot sale price.

Somerstein, part owner in TW Plaza Holdings, purchased the Publix-anchored TW Plaza in Coral Springs in May 2009. The property was in foreclosure at that time, with a 72% occupancy rate. Today, Somerstein says, occupancy is in the mid-80s and the group is about to ink five new leases.

"The bedroom community market of Coral Springs is a very good market," Somerstein says. "Over the last couple of years Coral Springs been hit with a lack of home sales, but as the economy comes back people will be refurnishing their homes. That should help Design Row."