UPDATED, July 7, 2:25 p.m.: A North Miami Beach investor beefed up his South Florida retail portfolio with a $31 million purchase of a Broward County shopping center.
Two entities managed by Alberto Dayan bought Arena Shoppes at 7296 West McNab Road in North Lauderdale, records show. The entities obtained a $20.7 million mortgage from FirstBank Puerto Rico.
Raul Pino of The Hype Real Estate Group represented the buyer.
Paul Ahmed and Mackenzie Lampman with CBRE arranged the financing, according to a press release. A CBRE team led by Dennis Carson and Casey Rosen represented the seller. The property hit the market in March, a CBRE spokesperson said. The asking price was not disclosed.
The seller, Miami-based Arena Capital managed by Ana Maria and Oscar Rodriguez Pineros, paid $7 million for the 15.5-acre former Walmart superstore site in 2016, records show. Arena bought the property from Walmart and renovated the 126,051-square-foot big box building into a shopping center, adding two outparcel buildings, according to published reports.
The property is fully leased, but several tenants are still building out their spaces and have not yet moved in due to Covid-related delays in building approvals, the release states. Current tenants include Ross Dress for Less, Dollar Tree, YouFit Gyms, and Rainbow clothing store.
Dayan wheels and deals in South Florida retail properties. In 2018, a Dayan entity sold a strip mall in Lighthouse Point to wholesale grocery executive Jeff Levitetz for $7 million.
In 2020, another Dayan entity paid $14.4 million for Shoppes on University, a shopping center in Tamarac with a tenant roster that includes Planet Fitness, La Colonia Medical Center, and the Check Cashing Store. In August, Dayan bought Nob Hill Place Shopping Center in Sunrise for $23.5 million. The property is anchored by Doris Italian Market and New York Mart Asian market.
Outdoor shopping centers are star properties for retail investors in South Florida, as that commercial segment continues to rebound from the pandemic. In Broward, the average asking rent jumped to $25.15 a square foot in the first quarter, compared to $22.69 a square foot in the same period of last year, according to a recent Colliers report. The retail vacancy rate dropped to 4.7 percent from 5.6 percent.
Deals involving grocery store-anchored retail sites are especially hot. Recently, a Plantation shopping center anchored by a Food Fair store sold for $38.4 million, and a Deerfield Beach shopping center anchored by Winn-Dixie and Bealls Outlet traded for $18.7 million.