Publix bags West Palm shopping plaza it anchors for $14.7M

Why rent when you can own?

This week, Publix Supermarkets continued its South Florida real estate shopping spree with the $14.7 million purchase of a West Palm Beach retail strip anchored by the grocery chain.

Dubbed the Shoppes at Andros Isle, the strip is located at at 8989 Okeechobee Boulevard near three major housing developments in the city’s suburban western half: Baywinds, Andros Isle and Breakers Reese Jones golf course community.

The commercial property is a single building that measures 80,472 square feet, most of which is occupied by Publix. Other tenants include a nail salon, tax preparation company, pizza shop and liquor store. A recent LoopNet listing for vacant space at the plaza said rental rates averaged $16 per square foot.

It was built in 2000 by an affiliate of Fort Meyer-based developer North American Properties, who sold it six years later for nearly $14 million to the Equity One real estate investment trust.

Global Fund Investments, a real estate company based in Sunrise and the property’s most recent owner, paid $11 million to buy the Shoppes at Andros Isle from Equity One in 2014. After just two years, Global cleared a cool profit of $3.7 million over what it originally paid.

Early last year, Publix announced it was launching a $1.3 billion campaign to buy out its landlords, remodel its existing locations, building new stores and investing in technology. The company has since acquired a swath of shopping centers in South Florida, including a $53 million retail plaza in Wellington sold by the Federal Realty Investment Trust.