Developer buys busy Publix-anchored plaza for $15.5 million

FORT MYERS — One of the largest retail real estate developers and landlords in the region, The Sembler Co., along with Forge Capital Partners, has acquired a shopping center in Fort Myers.

St. Petersburg-based Sembler and Tampa-based Forge, through its Forge Real Estate Partners IV investment fund, paid $15.5 million for the plaza, Daniels Crossing, according to a statement from JLL Capital Markets. A Publix anchors the 112,003-square-foot center, the release adds.

At the corner where Daniels Parkway intersects with Six Mile Cypress Parkway, Daniels Crossing is 70.5% occupied, the release states. The property is on 15.93 acres; visible to more than 90,000 vehicles per day; and has a nearby daytime population of more than 100,000 people the release states.

JLL marketed the property on behalf of the sellers, EverWest Real Estate Investors LLC and Stiles Corp. The JLL Retail Capital Markets team that represented the seller was led by Senior Managing Director and Co-Head of JLL’s U.S. Retail Capital Markets Danny Finkle, Managing Director Luis Castillo and Senior Director Eric Williams.

“Daniels Crossing is a well-positioned Publix-anchored retail center with outstanding near- and long-term growth prospects,” Finkle says in the statement. “Grocery-anchored retail centers remain in high demand from investors, given their strong performance through the pandemic and positive outlook as we move forward.”

Available spaces in the center range from 905 to roughly 5,000 square feet, according to a separate statement from Sembler, which will serve as both property manager and leasing agent for Daniels Crossing. “With over 25,000 square feet of available space, in such a strong location, the center was ripe for reinvestment,” Sembler COO Sean Davis says in the release.

“Fort Myers is one of the fastest growing areas in the entire country,” Davis added. “Daniels Crossing is a solid opportunity for our fund to reinvest in a great community and create value for our investors.”

Through their FREP partnership, Sembler and Forge have acquired 19 shopping centers together in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. The partners are actively seeking additional investments in grocery-anchored shopping centers throughout the Southeast United States. FREP is focused on the acquisition, development and redevelopment of retail real estate projects in the Southeast.

Sembler provides a full array of retail real estate services, including development and redevelopment, acquisition, property and asset management, leasing and other related services throughout the Southeast and Puerto Rico. Sembler has developed more than 357 projects totaling 29 million square feet and currently leases and manages 10 million square feet.

Forge Capital Partners is a diversified, commercial real estate investment and investment management company. Since 2001, Forge and its principals have successfully sponsored four closed-end private equity funds. In conjunction with debt financing, these funds seek to invest over $1 billion of capital, over $700 million of which has already been invested.