Atlanta retail investor buys The Shoppes at The Royale

BUYER: Halpern Enterprises Inc., Atlanta
SELLER: Tyrone Crossings Investors LLC
PROPERTY: 1400 and 1462 and 1500 66th St. N., St. Petersburg
PRICE: $7.55 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $5.1 million and $4.21 million, September 2005

BUYER: Halpern Tyrone LLC, Atlanta
SELLER: Halpern Enterprises Inc.
PRICE: $755,000

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Tew & Associates, New Port Richey

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Atlanta-based Halpern Enterprises Inc. purchased the 46,020-square-foot The Shoppes at The Royale retail center for $7.55 million.

The price equated to $164 per square foot.

The center is anchored by a separately owned 45,000-square-foot Publix grocery store. Half vacant, the center houses Jimmy John's, Chipotle, Pei Wei, Five Guys Burgers & Fries, Massage Envy, Smoothie King, Verizon Wireless, and Rib City.

Halpern Enterprises plans to rename it The Village at Tyrone. The purchase represents Halpern Enterprises' first retail center holdings outside of Georgia.

“[Going into Florida is] something we've been working on for a couple years,” says Bill Brown, president of Halpern Enterprises. “For almost 50 years we've been run fairly conservatively, and we're in good financial shape. We believe now the time is right to grow not just in the state of Georgia, but along the Southeast.”

He describes the property as a young (3-year-old), well-located center in an area that's recovering well. Brown says the company was able to work out a deal with lender Wells Fargo on the center's price.

The property features a number of shell spaces that Halpern plans to develop.

Michael Milano and Cynthia Shelton of Colliers International Tampa Bay, Central and Southwest Florida represented the seller. The center is being leased and managed locally by Colliers, with Ben McLeish handling leasing, and Juniper Duffin and Cathy McCann in charge of management.

Halpern Enterprises owns and operates 33 retail properties with more than 3.4 million square feet of leasable space.