JBL Buys ‘Highly Trafficked’ South Florida Shopping Center

JLL, which arranged the deal for the seller, described the shopping center as a “highly trafficked location.” It’s within a 15-minute drive of more than 640,000 residents, holding a median household income of over $100,000 per year, according to JLL.

“Infill retail centers in South Florida continue to attract outstanding investor demand,” Eric Williams, senior director of the real estate giant said.

“Ridge Plaza represented the opportunity to acquire a well-located center on a prime +13-acre site with established tenancy, a secure revenue stream and substantial embedded value enhancement potential.”

Also, major schools are located in or near Davie including South Florida Educational Center, Nova Southeastern University, and Florida Atlantic University. The town is just southwest of Fort Lauderdale.

Generally speaking in South Florida, the retail fundamentals look solid so far in 2024. Rental rates were up by nearly five percent, while vacancy sat at just 2.8 percent in the first quarter, according to CoStar data. Plus, net absorption has outpaced deliveries for each of the past three years, according to a report from Lee & Associates. Miami-Dade County is standing out with its first quarter 2.7 percent vacancy rate – the lowest it has seen in a decade and down 30 basis points from the previous three months.

JBL Asset mainly invests in shopping centers, with its portfolio of 4.4 million square feet spread across 11 states. The company primarily focuses on Florida, Texas, and Georgia. Also, in the past two years, JBL has struck deals for several transactions on 12 properties, totaling over 1.6 million square feet.