Northwood Plaza sells for $37.62M

BUYER: NWP Clearwater Holdings LLC (AEW Capital Management LP), Boston

SELLER: Northwood Plaza LLC

PROPERTY: 2508 McMullen Booth Road, Clearwater

PRICE: $37.62 million

LAW FIRM ON DEED: DLA Piper LLP, Boston

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Boston-based AEW Capital Management LP purchased the 200,000-square-foot Northwood Plaza in Clearwater for $37.62 million.

The price equated to $188 per gross leasable square foot.

The shopping center was 91% occupied at the time of the sale. Its major tenants include Publix, Stein Mart, CVS, Talbots, Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza and Starbucks.

Plaza Advisors represented the seller in the transaction and Jim Michalak, Anthony Blanco and Lenard Williams were involved in the engagement.

The purchase price was equivalent to a relatively low 6.78% capitalization rate, an important criteria that measures the payoff rate of an acquisition price based on income.

“The main challenge was that Stein Mart doesn't have a lot of time left in its term, and compared to its store average, that location had not been preforming historically to the level they like, although it had picked up recent,” Michalak says. “So there was the potential of a large space to backfill, which would be difficult. However, it is still one of the best Publix-anchored community centers in Pinellas County. It would have gone for considerably more if the Stein Mart had been more stable.”

Founded in 1981, AEW Capital Management LP provides real estate investment management services to investors worldwide. As of Dec. 31, AEW, AEW Europe and AEW Asia managed more than $45 billion of real estate assets and securities.