Jim Moran Foundation Buys Retail Building Near New HQ in Fort Lauderdale
By Julia Echikson February 7, 2024 1:18 pm
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The Jim Moran Foundation is expanding its new headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
The South Florida-based nonprofit paid $10.8 million for a 1.4-acre site next door to where it’s building a new headquarters. The newly acquired parcel at 4501 N Federal Highway holds a 45,825-square-foot retail building that a Macy’s Furniture Gallery occupies.
“By acquiring this property now, the foundation will be well situated in the future to further serve the community that Jim called home,” Jan Moran, chairman and president of The Jim Moran Foundation, said in a statement.
But the exact plans for the lot remain unclear. A representative for the foundation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
For Macy’s, the deal marks the second furniture showroom sale in South Florida since the start of the year. Just last week, it sold a furniture and mattress showroom in Boca Raton for $24 million. It’s unclear when, and for how much, the department store bought the two-story Fort Lauderdale retail building.
In 2021, the foundation bought the 2.43-acre parcel, located just north of the Macy’s building at 4545 N Federal Highway, for $9.8 million and is now constructing a headquarters building that’s scheduled to be completed in 2025. The nonprofit is currently based in Deerfield Beach.
Jim Moran Foundation will share the building with the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship, a development program for small business owners and nonprofit leaders, part of the Florida State University’s Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship.
Established by the late car dealership billionaire Jim Moran, the foundation has invested more than $250 million since its inception to improve the quality of life for the youth and families in Broward, Palm Beach and Duval counties.
Law firm Greenberg Traurig represented the Jim Moran Foundation in both transactions.
Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.
