Undaunted by Pandemic, Retail Investor Makes $20.4M Sweetwater Purchase

A shopping center developer and investor sees the coronavirus pandemic upend retail real estate and still buys a Best Buy store in suburban Sweetwater for $20.4 million.

RK Centers, founded and led by Miami Heat part-owner Raanan Katz, bought the property from Shops at 107th LLC based in Sunny Isles Beach. The seller is managed by Salomon Hanono, a private equity and import-export professional.

The deal for 10760 NW 17th St. closed Friday at $447 per square foot. The 45,675-square-foot big-box store is between the Dolphin and Miami International malls on 4.23 acres on the southwest corner of Northwest 107th Avenue and 17th Street.

This is one of only a handful of large South Florida retail transactions this year as deals slowed with the rise in COVID-19 cases. In South Florida, retail trades amounted to $405 million in the first half of the year, down 55% compared with the first half of last year, according to data from CBRE Group Inc.

The temporary closure of nonessential businesses at the onset of the pandemic and market uncertainty thwarted investors, but RK Centers said its Sweetwater acquisition has a strong tenant in a good locatioan.

“The location of this asset, coupled with the presence of a strong national tenant such as Best Buy, made this both a unique and desirable property for us to acquire,” Andrew Zidar, RK vice president of development and acquisitions, said in a news release.

When most retailers were ordered to close, Best Buy continued sales online and arranged curbside pickup at its stores.

Overall, Miami-Dade County fundamentals showed some impact from the pandemic in the second quarter when the countywide retail vacancy rate inched up to 4.5%, a 0.2 percentage point increase from the first quarter, according to Colliers International South Florida. The county also recorded 230,698 square feet of negative net absorption.

RK Centers — with offices in Needham, Massachusetts, and Sunny Isles Beach — has shopping center and other retail holdings throughout South Florida under its RK name as well as in Connecticut, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

RK last year bought seven regional and community shopping centers for a total of $100 million. The South Florida and Northeast U.S. assets total nearly 500,000 square feet.

Axiom Capital Advisors LLC principal and broker Roberto Susi represented the seller in the Sweetwater deal, and Axiom’s Jose Sasson-Lerner represented the buyer.

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