The sellers acquired the properties in 2014 and upgraded the tenancy by re-leasing premises formerly occupied by Winn-Dixie to Ross Dress for Less and TJ Maxx. The sellers also added junior anchors Petco, Tuesday Morning and Dollar Tree while restructuring Regal Cinema's lease to allow for a multimillion-dollar interior renovation of the premises. Also making the deal attractive, the sellers had obtained approvals for and started construction of 53,100 square feet of new retail space that is pre-leased to tenants including Five Below, Cabo Flats, Wing Stop and Five Guys Burgers.

“The seller's success in repositioning these two assets in a relatively short period of time is a testament to the strength of the West Pembroke Pines submarket,” says Gilbert. “The sellers did a fabulous job driving retailer interest to the site by helping them understand that West Pembroke Pines is an emerging submarket that was underserved.”

Westfork Plaza and Paraiso Parc are located one mile west of Interstate 75 at the intersection of Pines Boulevard and Dykes Road, which is western Pembroke Pines' busiest intersection and main retail node. The high-profile location sees traffic counts exceeding 90,000 vehicles per day.

Gilbert says, “Pembroke Pines is increasingly being viewed as comprised of two retail submarkets, with West Pembroke Pines' demographics rivaling South Florida's strongest submarkets, including Weston, Kendall and Boca Raton, in terms of population density and affluence.” Indeed, even industrial is hot in Pembroke Pines.

MIAMI—Westfork Plaza and Paraiso Parc, two neighboring retail centers in Pembroke Pines spanning 388,557 square feet, just traded hands. The collective sale price: $163 million.

The Miami-based Cushman & Wakefield investment sales team of executive managing directors Mark Gilbert and Adam Feinstein and financial associate Mitchell Halpern negotiated the disposition on behalf of an ownership venture of New York-based DRA Advisors and Boca Raton, FL-based Woolbright Development. InvenTrust Properties, an Oakbrook, IL-based REIT, acquired the asset. DRA in December was part of a $50.3 million office deal in Orlando.

“This was a highly complex transaction since significant construction was in progress and the sellers will remain involved post-closing to complete the construction and position new tenants in place,” Gilbert tells GlobeSt.com. The two parties and their respective counsels demonstrated great professionalism and patience to work through the issues and complete what will be one of South Florida's largest retail transaction in 2017.”

Westfork Plaza is an 292,707-square-foot multi-anchor community shopping center developed in 1998. Costco owns and operates a store on the site that was not included in the sale. Paraiso Parc is a 95,850-square-foot, Publix-anchored neighborhood shopping center developed in 2007. The centers share a signalized entrance from Pines Boulevard.

The sellers acquired the properties in 2014 and upgraded the tenancy by re-leasing premises formerly occupied by Winn-Dixie to Ross Dress for Less and TJ Maxx. The sellers also added junior anchors Petco, Tuesday Morning and Dollar Tree while restructuring Regal Cinema's lease to allow for a multimillion-dollar interior renovation of the premises. Also making the deal attractive, the sellers had obtained approvals for and started construction of 53,100 square feet of new retail space that is pre-leased to tenants including Five Below, Cabo Flats, Wing Stop and Five Guys Burgers.

“The seller's success in repositioning these two assets in a relatively short period of time is a testament to the strength of the West Pembroke Pines submarket,” says Gilbert. “The sellers did a fabulous job driving retailer interest to the site by helping them understand that West Pembroke Pines is an emerging submarket that was underserved.”

Westfork Plaza and Paraiso Parc are located one mile west of Interstate 75 at the intersection of Pines Boulevard and Dykes Road, which is western Pembroke Pines' busiest intersection and main retail node. The high-profile location sees traffic counts exceeding 90,000 vehicles per day.

Gilbert says, “Pembroke Pines is increasingly being viewed as comprised of two retail submarkets, with West Pembroke Pines' demographics rivaling South Florida's strongest submarkets, including Weston, Kendall and Boca Raton, in terms of population density and affluence.” Indeed, even industrial is hot in Pembroke Pines.