Terra pre-leases 70% of retail space at Pines City Center

Miami-based Terra Group has pre-leased 70 percent of the retail space in the first phase of Pines City Center, a 47-acre mixed-use development in Pembroke Pines.

So far, the development’s tenant roster includes Publix Super Markets, Carl’s Patio, Cooper’s Hawk, BurgerFi, Smoothie King, PizzaRev, Bento Café and The Halal Guys.

They will occupy the initial 200,000-square-foot retail phase of the development, which is under construction and scheduled for completion in late 2018.

The second phase of Terra’s development will include 100,000 square feet of commercial space and 385 apartments. The site of the 300,000-square-foot development is the southwest corner of Pines Boulevard and Palm Avenue.

Pines City Center will have “a strong food and beverage component,” David Martin, president and co-founder of Terra, told The Real Deal. “Families and individuals are living in smaller houses, smaller apartments.” So “people are spending less time entertaining at home and spending more time out, looking for entertainment and food-and-beverage experiences.”

Publix alone accounts for about a quarter of the retail phase of the development. Publix last September signed a lease for 45,600 square feet at Pines City Center. The lease has an initial term of 20 years and eight options that each allow the Lakeland-based supermarket company to renew the lease for five years. The Courtelis Company is handling the leasing program for Pines City Center.

“When we announced Publix, which is such a strong anchor, there was just a natural progression of tenants,” Martin said. “We have more tenants we’re going to be announcing soon.”

Terra last year paid $15.9 million to the City of Pembroke Pines for 17.23 acres at the corner, which the firm needed to build the first phase of Pines City Center.

Terra last year also closed on a $54.3 million loan from Oakland Finance & Investment to finance the mixed-use development, according to county records.

“That’s a development and construction loan, so we’re fully funded to complete the project,” Martin said.

Vertical construction of the first phase of Pines City Center will start within 30 days, following about six months of site work, he said.

Almost 400,000 people live within five miles of the Pines City Center site, and 1,500 residences are within walking distance, according to Terra.

Next door to the Pines City Center site, the City of Pembroke Pines has opened a new civic center with a 3,500-seat performing arts center, a conference hall, an art gallery and new chambers for the city commission.

Pines City Center is one of three Terra developments under way in Broward County. Terra is planning another mixed-use development in Pembroke Pines, called 16000 Pines Market, and is developing a 121-acre master-planned residential community in Weston called Botaniko, featuring 125 contemporary-style homes designed by architects Chad Oppenheim and Roney J. Mateu.