Pine Tree made its first foray into South Florida by acquiring a Plantation shopping center at $2.5 million below the previous sale price two decades ago.
An affiliate of Northbrook, Illinois-based Pine Tree paid $70 million for The Fountains at 801, 805 and 821 South University Drive, records show. The deal breaks down to $160 per square foot for the 438,051-square-foot retail plaza.
The seller, an affiliate of Beachwood, Ohio-based Site Centers Corporation, paid $72.5 million for the 33.5-acre site in 2004, records show. The property features three main buildings anchored by big box tenants and eight parcels, according to an online map of The Fountains.
Kohl’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Marshall’s are the anchor tenants, and the roster also includes Urban Air Trampoline and Adventure Park, Firehouse Subs, Total Wine & More and Olive Garden.
In 2019, ruptured gas lines caused an explosion inside a vacant pizza restaurant at The Fountains, causing significant damage to the space and an adjacent space leased to L.A. Fitness.
Pine Tree, led by CEO Peter Borzak, also owns a nearly 100,000-square-foot shopping center near Clearwater, Florida, according to the firm’s website. Pine Tree has 11 million square feet of retail properties worth $2.5 billion under management, the website states.
Shopping center deals in Broward County have picked up recently. Last month, Lakeland-based grocery chain Publix paid $58.5 million for Ramblewood Square in Coral Springs. The 157,914-square-foot shopping center is anchored by a Publix store.
In April, Jamestown dropped $22.5 million for a Tamarac shopping center also anchored by a Publix store. The Atlanta-based firm acquired Tamarac Town Square, a 124,000-square-foot retail facility completed in 1983.
And Fort Lauderdale-based Stiles Corporation nabbed a shopping center in Pompano Beach in March. Stiles paid $27.5 million for Shopper’s Haven which signed Publix as an anchor tenant to take over a big box space previously leased to Winn-Dixie.