Open-air shopping center in booming Orlando submarket sells for $23.6M

ORLANDO, May 20, 2022 – JLL Capital Markets announced today that it has closed the $23.6 million sale of Gateway Plaza, a 214,489-square-foot open-air shopping center in Sanford, Florida.

JLL marketed the property on behalf of the seller, an affiliate of Apollo Global Management. Greenberg Gibbons Commercial Corp. acquired the asset through its Greenberg Gibbons Real Estate Income Fund. This is the fund’s fourth acquisition and the company’s first property in Florida. Launched in March of 2021, the fund is for the strategic acquisition of shopping centers throughout the East Coast, Southeast and premier Midwest markets.

Originally developed in 1995, Gateway Plaza is anchored by Floor & Décor, Ashley Furniture, Collier’s Furniture Expo, Bed Bath & Beyond, Michaels and Dollar Tree. The 95.4-percent-leased center is located directly adjacent to the heavily trafficked Interstate 4 in Sanford, one of the most desirable and affluent communities in Florida.

Gateway Plaza is positioned on a 24.3-acre site at 101-241 Towne Center Blvd. directly across from the 1.1 million square foot Seminole Towne Center Mall, which is ripe for redevelopment and a reinvention with the completion of the SR-417 / SR-429 toll road and the super-regional accessibility.

The Lake Mary / Sanford area is a hub of executive housing for employees that work in the nearby office parks, as a result, the three-mile average household incomes are exceeding $100,000. The property is five miles from Orlando Sanford Airport and less than 4.3 miles from historic downtown Sanford.

The JLL Retail Capital Markets Investment Sales and Advisory team that represented the seller was led by Senior Managing Director Brad Peterson and Senior Director Whitaker Leonhardt.

“Over the last three to five years, residential developers have been buying land and building apartments in anticipation of the completion of SR-417 / SR-429 outer loop at the intersection with Interstate 4,” Peterson said. “The area is already booming as a result, but it will get another adrenaline shot once it is completed in 2023, with lots more residents living in new apartments in the immediate area.”

“That combined with even better super-regional access for shoppers in northwest Orlando will have a big effect on visitor traffic and the success for tenants at Gateway Plaza,” Peterson added. “As a result, we had lots of interest from investors, with about a dozen offers from today’s leading investors.”

JLL Capital Markets is a full-service global provider of capital solutions for real estate investors and occupiers. The firm's in-depth local market and global investor knowledge delivers the best-in-class solutions for clients — whether investment and sales advisory, debt advisory, equity advisory or a recapitalization. The firm has more than 3,000 Capital Markets specialists worldwide with offices in nearly 50 countries.

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With more than 50 years of success, Greenberg Gibbons is a premier developer, investor and owner of mixed-use, retail and flex/R&D properties. The firm’s rapidly expanding portfolio encompasses more than 6 million square feet under management and $1.5 billion of assets in 22 locations throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions.