"The demand for retail investments in Jacksonville is very strong. The population growth rate of 6.9% is nearly twice the national average (3.6%), the employment growth rate ranks it seventh of major MSAs, and Forbes recently ranked Jacksonville No. 1 in the U.S. for projected wage growth (7.8%)," Peterson says. "The strong population and employment growth combined with limited new retail development have translated into an extremely strong retail market."

He adds that as a result of the strong market conditions, JLL has seen metro-wide occupancy near record highs, and very strong rental rate growth. As a result, more capital is seeking to make investments in Jacksonville retail.

"The Shoppes at Southside is a very successful retail property surrounded by some of the region's most significant demand drivers and serving both Duval and St. Johns counties," Leonhardt says. "Brixmor strategically backfilled the former Sports Authority space into one of the hottest new family entertainment concepts in Urban Air Trampoline and Adventure Park on a long-term lease, setting up an ideal investment opportunity for CORE Investment Properties Fund to acquire their second Jacksonville-area shopping center."

The property is in the Southside retail submarket and adjacent to both the 1.1 million-square-foot Avenues Mall and the nine-building, 90-acre Gramercy Woods office park. More than 53,700 residents earning an average annual household income of $91,039 live within a three-mile radius of the center, according to JLL.

"The Jacksonville market is on fire, and JLL is seeing numerous transaction opportunities in Jacksonville, especially in multi-housing, office, industrial and retail," Peterson says.

He adds that the deal for the Shoppes at Southside was the 10th capital markets transaction that JLL has completed thus far in the Jacksonville market this year.