Benderson buys shuttered Toys “R” Us store in Doral

Benderson Development Company is creating a niche: It just bought another former Toys “R” Us store this week.

Property records show an entity tied to the company paid $8.5 million for a location in Doral. The 44,542-square-foot building at 1645 Northwest 107th Avenue traded hands for $191 per square foot.

The property spans 4 acres and sits just west of Miami International Mall. Records show Toys “R” Us paid $2.6 million for the site in 1983, which is the same year it was built.

One Investment Group’s Alex Rich is handling sales for an adjacent 20,270-square-foot building on the east side of the property. The former Babies “R” Us store is on the market to buy or lease, with rents asking about $20 per square foot plus triple net, Rich said.

Benderson has been busy scooping up shuttered Toys “R” Us buildings. Just this week it paid $6.5 million for a former Toy “R” Us building in Palm Beach Gardens.

Earlier this year, it made one of the highest offers for a Toys “R” Us store when it outbid Federal Realty with a $15.6 million offer to acquire a store in Emeryville, California. It has since leased the space to the French sporting goods retailer Decathlon Group, according to its website.

The firm has also picked up a former Toys “R” Us store in North Miami Beach for $1.5 million and another in Amherst, New York, for $110,000.

Properties in the Doral area have been trading recently. Last week, San Ignacio University purchased a vacant plot of land nearby for $8.9 million. The week prior to that, Simon Property Group sold 8.4 acres of land next to its Miami International Mall for $8.2 million.