CTO Realty Growth has entered the South Florida retail market with the purchase of Pompano Citi Centre in Broward County for $65.2 million. The Winter Park-based company, led by John Albright, acquired the 509,000-square-foot shopping center at 1955 North Federal Highway in Pompano Beach, paying approximately $128 per square foot. Cushman & Wakefield brokered the deal.
The seller was an affiliate of Sterling Organization from West Palm Beach, which had previously bought the 35-acre property for $15 million in 2012 and redeveloped a former Sears Auto Center into a multi-tenant strip mall that is now fully leased.
In a separate transaction last year, Macy’s sold a 12-acre parcel—including one of its closed stores—on the mall site to Morgan Group and Carlyle Group for $18.8 million. The joint venture also purchased an adjacent parking lot for $8.8 million and plans to build a 356-unit apartment complex on the combined site.
Pompano Citi Centre is currently 92 percent occupied and features anchor tenants such as Burlington, TJ Maxx, Nordstrom Rack, Ross Dress for Less, and J.C. Penney. CTO Realty Growth has hired Avenue Real Estate Partners to lease out the remaining vacant space, including 62,000 square feet on the mall’s second floor.
CTO Realty Growth is a public real estate investment trust focused on shopping centers and owns eight other properties of this type in Florida. Following this acquisition, CTO’s total investment volume for the year reached $149.9 million.
This purchase comes amid increased activity in South Florida’s retail property market. IMC Equity Group recently bought Doral Square—a nearly fully leased shopping center developed by Terra—for $74 million. In addition, RK Centers acquired a Fort Lauderdale shopping center for $36 million earlier this month, while Publix purchased a Boca Raton strip mall anchored by one of its stores for $83 million.
