Evelyn Greer sells Pompano Plaza to Echo Realty and Publix for $30M

Miami attorney and investor Evelyn Greer sold a shopping center in Pompano Beach to a joint venture between Echo Realty and Publix for $29.6 million. 

A quit claim deed filed Thursday shows Greer transferred ownership of Pompano Plaza, at 1405 South Federal Highway, to various entities that are also tied to Greer. Terranova managed and leased the Publix-anchored shops. The deal is set to close on Friday, Mark Gilbert of Cushman & Wakefield, who brokered the sale, told The Real Deal.

Cushman’s Adam Feinstein and Mitch Halpern listed the fully leased property with Gilbert. The 9-acre shopping center has 126,928 square feet of retail space leased to anchors that include Marshalls, Tuesday Morning and Office Depot. It was on the market unpriced, Gilbert said.

Pompano Plaza was built in 1973 and renovated and expanded in 2006. Greer’s Pompano Plaza Ltd. owned the property, and brought in Publix to take space from Service Merchandise after it went bankrupt, Gilbert said. Greer, a former mayor of Pinecrest, is married to Bruce Greer, an attorney and co-founder of the Carlisle Group. Their son, Matthew Greer, was recently sentenced to three years in prison for his involvement in a multimillion-dollar affordable housing scheme, according to the Miami Herald. Greer referred comment to Terranova, which referred comment to Cushman.

The property is selling for about $233 per square foot.

Echo Realty, based in Pittsburgh, owns more than 200 properties in nine states. The firm focuses on grocery-anchored real estate, according to its website. Lakeland-based Publix has been focusing more on buying its stores in recent years. Early last year, the grocer paid $28 million for a Publix-anchored shopping center in Margate. Echo Realty could not be reached for comment.

Deals similar to the Pompano Plaza sale include Sunrise West, which Weingarten sold to Principal RE Investors for $15 million, or $183 per square foot; and the Publix-anchored Inverrary Falls shopping center in Lauderhill, which Konover South sold to RK Centers for $14 million, or $183 per square foot, according to Gilbert. In November, a shopping center at 3301 North Federal Highway sold for $50 million, or $242 per square foot.

The Pompano Plaza deal has not yet been recorded with Broward County.