Tampa retail center sells for $24.75 million

An affiliate of Hachem Investments, a Tampa-based investment firm that owns more than 600,000 square feet of commercial space and 700 apartments along the Gulf Coast, has acquired the Fountain Oaks Business Center for $24.75 million.

The three-building retail and office center, at 3603 W. Waters Ave., is occupied by Marshall's, Dollar Tree, Lutheran Services and Hillsborough County. The 206,000-square-foot center was 92% occupied at the time of the sale.

Fountain Oaks Business Center Inc., a group controlled by Laurice Hachem, acquired the 24.3-acre property on Sept. 13 from Dalfen America Corp., of Dallas.

Mike Davis, Rick Brugge and Michael Lerner of Cushman & Wakefield represented Dalfen in the transaction.

Dalfen, which had owned Fountain Oaks since 1998, according to Hillsborough County property records, sold the center as part of a portfolio disposition involving 1.12 million square feet in Texas, Indiana and the Carolinas.

In all, Dalfen received in excess of $100 million in proceeds from the sale.

“The purchase, operation and sale of these five projects really speak to the company's expertise,” says Sean Dalfen, the company's president and chief investment officer.

In addition to Fountain Oaks, Dalfen also owns a pair of properties in Clearwater, the SunPlex Business Center and the Bayside Bridge Business Center, totaling nearly 400,000 square feet.

It also owns Florida properties in Melbourne, Orlando, Jacksonville, Miami, Ocala and West Palm Beach, according to its website.

In 2010, the company decided to shift its holdings exclusively into industrial properties, its website notes.

This article has been updated to correct the purchase price.