Year in review: SoFla’s five largest retail leases

As South Florida’s retail landscape continues to blossom, an abundance of new leases were signed in 2015, heralding the arrival of stores, movie theaters and supermarkets.

The Real Deal analyzed CoStar Group data to rank the top retail leases for the year in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties by square footage. Here are the top five:

Century 21 Department Store

A Century 21 Department Store

Century 21 Department Store will open at Sawgrass Mills in the new year, marking the retailer’s debut in Florida and its first foray outside the Northeast. The 86,048 square-foot store, at 12801 West Sunrise Boulevard in Sunrise, will serve as an anchor of the shopping center as it continues to expand.

The lease at Sawgrass Mills, owned by Simon Property Group, is set to begin in February 2016. Cushman & Wakefield’s Gene Spiegelman and Jason Greenstone represented Century 21.

Earlier this year, Simon Property Group paid $16.9 million to purchase eight acres from VF Outlet, which previously housed the VF Factory Store and parking area. That will be the site for the new Century 21.

The new Century 21 will be located near the Colonnade Outlets, joining such retail outlets as All Saints, Armani Outlet, Diane von Furstenberg, Diesel, GUCCI, kate spade new york, and Tory Burch.

Sawgrass Mills is planning an 80,000-square-foot expansion of The Colonnade Outlets, which will include outlets for Ted Baker, Alexis Bittar, La Perla and Vince, as well as a first-in-state location from the Washington, D.C. eatery Matchbox. That expansion is set to open early next year.

Silverspot Cinema

A Silverspot Cinema

Silverspot Cinema will begin leasing 76,237 square feet at 200 Southeast Second Avenue in Miami, in June 2016.

It will be the movie theater’s first location in Miami-Dade County.

Silverspot Cinema operates other theaters in Coconut Creek and Naples, as well as in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Best Buy 

Best Buy in Boca Raton

Best Buy opened a new, 59,500-square-foot store in Boca Raton this year, at 20540 US Highway 441. The 10-year lease began in April 2015. The property owner is Black Equities Group Ltd.

The electronics big-box retailer operates several other stores throughout South Florida.

iPic Theaters

An iPic Theater

iPic will lease 45,000 square feet for a new theater at Metropica, at 1800 Northwest 136th Avenue in Sunrise. iPic’s lease begins in December 2016. The property owner is K-Group Holdings.

When completed, Metropica, a planned 65-acre mixed-use community, will have eight residential towers, 400,000 square feet of retail, 650,000 square feet of office space, and landscaped parks, the latter of which will be designed by EDSA. When completed, the Sunrise community will also feature a health and wellness center, a resort-style beach club and elevated recreational amenities such as tennis courts and mini soccer fields. Chad Oppenheim is the lead designer on the residential portion.

Other tenants of the retail component include Shake Shack, Pisco y Nazca, Salsa Fiesta, True Food Kitchens, Anthropologie, Free People; Kendra Scott jewelry; and Oil and Vinegar. Metropica Holdings is developing the retail component. CI Design, along with Alliance are the architects and designers.

In November, developer Joseph Kavana closed on $38 million in financing for Metropica. Kavana, chairman and CEO of the KGH Development, along with the Trillist Companies, broke ground on the first residential tower in October, Yoo at Metropica.

Lucky’s Market in Gainesville

Lucky’s Market

Lucky’s Market has leased 42,000 square feet for a store at the Royal Eagle Plaza, at 9100 Wiles Road, in Coral Springs.

The supermarket has leased the space from Simon Property Group, which owns the shopping center. The five-year lease began in November 2015. It was brokered by leasing representative Tammi Lipp of Sevell Realty Partners.

Lucky’s Market, headquartered in Niwot, Colorado, operates in 11 states. In Florida, the company has one store in Gainesville. It plans to open new stores in Naples, Orlando, Melbourne and Plantation, in addition to Coral Springs, according to its website.