Israeli Investor Buys Fort Lauderdale Strip Mall for $35M

Real estate investment company Gazit Horizons paid $34.4 million for a grocery-anchored shopping center near the beach in Fort Lauderdale, property records show.

Galt Ocean Marketplace is a 105,589-square-foot strip mall on a barrier island between 3700 and 4032 North Ocean Boulevard, a block west of the ocean in the Galt Mile neighborhood. 

The sale equates to about $325 a square foot. 

The 8.6-acre property is 96 percent leased to 24 tenants that include Winn-Dixie, CVS, Dunkin’, McDonald/s and Flagstar Bank, according to the buyer, a subsidiary of Israel-based Gazit Global.

“This incredibly well-located neighborhood center with a strong necessity-focused retail tenant mix and affluent neighborhood demographics is an exciting investment which will benefit from our extensive retail experience and proactive management,” Zvi Gordon, CEO of Gazit Horizons, said in a statement. 

In 2006, Kitson & Partners, a Palm Beach Gardens-based private real estate development company, purchased the property for $26.6 million, according to property records. In January, the firm refinanced the property with a $17 million loan, according to CBRE. 

In December, Kitson & Partners sold another South Florida retail center — Publix-anchored Plaza Del Mar in the wealthy town of Manalapan — for $37 million, The South Florida Business Journal reported. (A representative for the firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)

In 2017, Gazit Global created Gazit Horizons as a vehicle to invest in commercial real estate across the U.S. In South Florida, it owns a Maizon Brickell, a 19-story multifamily tower, in addition to the single-story Brickell Station retail building, which is leased to Talking Tacos. 

Julia Echikson can be reached jechikson@commercialobserver.com.