Statewide firm buys Lakeland CRE brokerage

Retail Solutions Advisors, a Lakeland commercial real estate firm specializing in nationally anchored retail centers, has been sold.

The buyer was LQ Commercial Real Estate and LQ Commercial Property Management.

The firm is not disclosing the terms of the deal, LQ’s president Daniel Butts says in an email.

But the purchase is a big one for the firm, which is adding a leasing portfolio that includes national anchors, outparcels in high-growth corridors, mixed-use developments, redevelopment sites, investment assets and property management assignments.

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“We're not just acquiring a successful firm,” Butts says in a statement announcing the purchase. “We’re giving clients instant access to more commercial real estate opportunities — and services — from Central to Southwest Florida.”

Retail Solution’s current listings on its website include spaces in Cypress Pointe, a proposed 252,000-square-foot shopping center in Winter Haven; Coquina Key shopping center in St. Petersburg; and Page Field Commons in Fort Myers.

Moving from Retail Solutions will be the brokerage’s president Charlie Boscarino. He will join as principal and managing director at LQ Commercial Tampa Bay.

Boscarino is a former vice president of real estate and development for Bealls Inc. in 14 states. Along with his time at Retail Solutions, he’s worked at RMC Property Group and Century Retail where, according to the statement, the 35-year industry vet “supervised site acquisition, construction, leasing, and operation for over 70 shopping centers.”

Along with Boscarino, Lynda Nagy will move as principal and senior associate as well as Kelly Franzino as senior broker associate. The pair, the statement says, oversee a retail portfolio approaching 1.2 million square feet and represent national brands including Bealls, Bealls Florida, Home Centric and Save-A-Lot in local site selection. 

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Donna Cook is also joining LQ as lead property manager “for the newly acquired assignments,” according to the statement. Retail Solutions’ holdings are “revered for its retail exclusivity” at nearly 450,000 square feet. The bulk of which are in greater Tampa Bay.

LQ is a statewide firm with offices in Orlando, Tampa, Fort Myers and Naples. Established in 2004, it has more than 200 listings and manages more than 2.6 million square feet in properties.

In March, it brokered the $92 million sale of a 41-acre business park in Fort Myers, the largest industrial sale in Southwest Florida’s history.