Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P. (HFF) announces that it has closed the sale of and arranged acquisition financing for Disston Plaza, a 129,150-square-foot, Publix-anchored shopping center in the Tampa-area community of St. Petersburg, and Polo Grounds Mall, a 130,015-square-foot Publix-anchored retail center in West Palm Beach, Florida.
The HFF team marketed the properties on behalf of the seller, Forge Capital Partners. New Market Properties, LLC, a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of Preferred Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE: APTS), purchased the two assets free and clear of existing financing. Additionally, working on behalf of the new owner, the HFF team placed the acquisition loans for Disston Plaza and Polo Grounds Mall with Thrivent Financial, a Fortune 500 not-for profit financial services organization headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Both acquisition loans are fixed rate and carry a term of 15 years.
Disston Plaza was originally constructed in 1954 and renovated in 2018, which included rebuilding the Publix space to the latest company prototype. In addition to the Publix anchor, the 97%-leased center is home to Bealls Outlet, Dollar Tree, Suncoast Resale Shoppe, Anytime Fitness, Subway, Little Italy, Great Clips, Greenberg Dental and more. Situated on 12.03 acres at 3501 49th Street North within the high-barriers-to-entry South Pinellas submarket, Disston Plaza is in St. Petersburg at the intersection of 49th Street North and 38th Avenue North, which has a combined traffic count of approximately 40,400 vehicles per day. More than 133,870 residents earning an average annual household income of $63,657 live within a three-mile radius of the center.
Completed in 1966, Polo Grounds Mall has been the dominant grocery destination in West Palm Beach for more than half a century. The retail center was renovated in 2007, which included a full rebuild of the Publix space, and is fully leased to a variety of tenants, including Bealls Outlet, Rainbow, Medical Consultants of Florida, United States Postal Service, Chase, Wing Stop and Papa Johns. Polo Grounds Mall is located on 15.9 acres at 926 South Military Trail in West Palm Beach and serves a dense trade area that includes 147,191 residents within a three-mile radius. Additionally, the center’s location makes it visible to approximately 70,000 vehicles a day.
The HFF investment advisory team that represented the seller included managing director Luis Castillo, senior managing director and co-head of HFF’s retail practice Daniel Finkle and director Eric Williams.
The HFF debt placement team representing the new owner consisted of senior managing director Ed Coco, directors Matt Casey, Greg Gaughan and Maxx Carney; and associate Libby Malloy.
“The Forge Capital Partners team successfully executed their business plan for these two centers, which led to a strongly contested marketing process,” Castillo said. “New Market Properties continues building its portfolio of dominant grocery-anchored shopping centers, and Polo Grounds Mall and Disston Plaza will make excellent additions.”
“Both centers represent excellent opportunities to acquire infill real estate in supply-constrained markets anchored by Florida’s most dominant grocer in Publix,” Coco added. “With decades of stable operating performance and long-term Publix leases, Disston Plaza and Polo Grounds Mall provide the ideal balance of secure cash flow with opportunity for future growth as each center continues to serve its surrounding community.”
About Forge Capital Partners
Forge Capital Partners is a diversified, commercial real estate investment and investment management company. The company carries out its business strategy by sponsoring real estate-oriented private equity funds and through an affiliated group of companies, which include: Forge Capital Management, Forge Property Management, Forge Development Group and Forge Real Estate Services. Since 2000, Forge and its principals have successfully sponsored four real estate-oriented, closed-end private equity funds, investing over $700 million of capital. Learn more at http://www.forgecapitalpartners.com.
About New Market Properties
New Market Properties, LLC is a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of Preferred Apartment Communities, Inc. and is focused on the grocery anchored shopping center sector. New Market currently owns and operates a portfolio of grocery anchored shopping centers in nine states. New Market's strategy is to prudently grow and operate its existing portfolio throughout the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast and Texas. New Market targets high quality suburban markets with dominant grocers such as Publix, Kroger, Harris Teeter, Tom Thumb, HEB and Giant Food. Learn more at www.newmarketprop.com.
About Preferred Apartment Communities, Inc.
Preferred Apartment Communities, Inc. is a Maryland corporation formed primarily to own and operate multifamily properties and, to a lesser extent, own and operate student housing properties, grocery anchored shopping centers and strategically located, well leased Class A office buildings, all in select targeted markets throughout the United States. As part of its business strategy, Preferred Apartment Communities may enter into forward purchase contracts or purchase options for to-be-built multifamily communities and may make real estate related loans, provide deposit arrangements or provide performance assurances, as may be necessary or appropriate, in connection with the development of multifamily communities. As a secondary strategy, Preferred Apartment Communities may acquire or originate senior mortgage loans, subordinate loans or real estate loans secured by interests in multifamily properties, membership or partnership interests in multifamily properties and other multifamily related assets and invest a lesser portion of our assets in other real estate related investments, including other income-producing property types, senior mortgage loans, subordinate loans or real estate loans secured by interests in other income-producing property types, membership or partnership interests in other income-producing property types as determined by its manager as appropriate for the company. At March 31, 2019, the company was the approximate 97.9% owner of Preferred Apartment Communities Operating Partnership, L.P., the company's operating partnership. Preferred Apartment Communities, Inc. has elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, commencing with its tax year ended December 31, 2011. Learn more at www.pacapts.com.
About HFF
HFF and its affiliates operate out of 26 offices and are a leading provider of commercial real estate and capital markets services to the global commercial real estate industry. HFF, together with its affiliates, offers clients a fully integrated capital markets platform, including debt placement, investment advisory, equity placement, funds marketing, M&A and corporate advisory, loan sales and loan servicing. HFF, HFF Real Estate Limited, HFF Securities L.P. and HFF Securities Limited are owned by HFF, Inc. (NYSE: HF). For more information, please visit hfflp.com or follow HFF on Twitter @HFF.
