JB Capital Management Makes First Major Acquisition With Purchase Of Fresh Market Village For $25 Million

JB Capital Management LLC, in partnership with Royce Properties LLC, has purchased Fresh Market Village in Jupiter for $25.5 million as partners Jessica Giguere and Ben Karp pursue high-end, commercial assets in South Florida.

The 55,046-square-foot property at 311 E. Indiantown Road sits near the Intracoastal Waterway and features a mix of neighborhood restaurants and high-end retail stores.

“With 97% occupancy, an excellent location and only a handful of value-add capital improvements needed, Fresh Market Village fits our investment strategy of buying and holding high-quality properties in locations where we believe the market has strong fundamentals,” Giguere said. “This is just the beginning for us. We have some exciting opportunities in the works in both the southeast and northeast.”

The center was constructed in 1989 and updated in 2014 when Fresh Market, a specialty grocery retailer, opened. Adar Jupiter LLC acquired the property in 2013. Fresh Market Village includes 2 Vinez Restaurant & Wine Bar, Starbucks, Casa Mia, and women’s clothing boutique Gretchen Scott Designs among its many other tenants. This latest transaction was brokered by Justin Smith’s team at Atlantic Retail.

“Jupiter is quickly becoming one of the most desirable cities along the South Florida coast to live, and it was important to us to have a presence in the market,” Karp said, “We were attracted to the neighborhood feel of the center, a place that brings people together to shop, enjoy a good meal, and relax. We have two small vacancies, and we are working on leasing up those spaces with some unique tenants. Our main goal is to continue to add to the community here in Jupiter and make this a desirable place to spend time.”

Giguere and Karp have strong ties to South Florida and have spent considerable time in this area. They were familiar with the plaza before it ever came up as an acquisition opportunity having spent time at the Fresh Market and the restaurants.

Although this will be their largest acquisition in Florida, it is not their first. They own and operate an industrial property in Lake Worth that continues to perform well as the two have worked to lease up and strategically improve the building over the last year.

Giguere and Karp’s real estate interests trace back to their childhoods, as both sets of families have ties to the real estate space and Palm Beach County. Giguere’s family real estate business got started in the 1980’s with ground-up development of multi-family and specialty retail assets. Karp’s family founded Laz Parking, the second-largest parking company in the nation.

Giguere and Karp met while in graduate school at New York University. They discovered that they came from similar business backgrounds and shared a similar set of goals and guiding principles when it came to analyzing real estate and building a company.

“Real estate is so multi-dimensional. We get to have our hands in every aspect of the business; no day is the same. We are kept on our toes, always learning and always building relationships,” Giguere said.

Their first deal together happened in graduate school. Giguere was looking to dispose of an asset in Connecticut and Karp was looking to acquire.

Giguere explained, “I was asking Ben for advice on the deal, trying to navigate the bidding process. Next day, he showed up with an offer to buy. Needless to say, his offer was the best.” 

Now, they are building a portfolio in South Florida and the Northeast in which they serve as owners, operators and investors.

“We are deploying capital into projects that produce good yield and long-term appreciation,” Karp said. “We are very selective in what we choose to purchase. Each deal must meet our investment criteria and a thorough business plan is created for each acquisition. Our investors are counting on us to produce outsized returns and good cash flow and therefore we must be scrupulous in our evaluations of what to buy and develop.”