West Palm Beach Grocery-Anchored Retail Center Trades For $56.5M

JLL Capital Markets has closed the $56.5 million sale of River Bridge Centre, a 229,781-square-foot, market-dominant community shopping center anchored by Publix in the South Florida community of West Palm Beach.

JLL marketed the asset on behalf of the seller, an affiliate of Apollo Global Management. Publix Super Markets, Inc. acquired the center.

River Bridge Centre opened in 1986 and was most recently renovated in 2005. The value-add, 86.3-percent-occupied property is anchored by a high-volume Publix and is home to a complementary mix of leading national retailers, including Ross Dress for Less, Crunch Fitness, Five Below, Ace Hardware, Chipotle, MD Now Urgent Care, Humana and Pizza Hut. With more than 2.6 million visitors a year, the center is within the 94th percentile of shopping centers within a 15-mile radius.

Positioned on 28.4 acres at 6714-6868 Forest Hill Blvd., River Bridge Centre is in an infill location with exceptional visibility to approximately 83,500 vehicles per day. The property also has nine outparcels, two of which are included in the sale, that drive consistent traffic to the center. The trade area that surrounds the property includes 130,000 residents earning an average annual household income of $77,617 within a three-mile radius, and Palm Beach County is one of the fastest-growing markets in the U.S., with nine consecutive years of population growth.

The JLL Retail team representing the seller was led by Senior Managing Director and Co-Head of U.S. Retail Capital Markets Danny Finkle, and Eric Williams and Vice President Kim Flores.

“Opportunities to acquire grocery-anchored retail centers in South Florida continue to be in high demand from investors,” Finkle said. “The strength of the retail fundamentals driven by strong population and employment growth, as well as the barriers to entry for new retail supply, are driving strong rental rate growth and make this one of the best positioned retail markets in the country.”