Russell Galbut and Sandeep Mathrani Buy Fort Lauderdale’s Galleria Mall

The 799,851-square-foot mall sold for $73M

By Julia Echikson September 22, 2025 11:50 am

Russell Galbut (top), Sandeep Mathrani (bottom) and the Galleria at Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. PHOTOS: Michael Pisarri; Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images for Vox Media; Getty Images

Russell Galbut, a prominent South Florida developer, and Sandeep Mathrani, former CEO of WeWork and Brookfield Properties‘ retail group, have partnered to buy the 32-acre Galleria Mall in Fort Lauderdale.

The sale price was $73 million, according to property records.

The Galleria Mall opened in the 1980s at 2442 East Sunrise Boulevard, less than a mile from the beach, and became one of Broward County’s premier malls. But in recent years, high-end retailers, such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus, vacated. By 2023, the mall’s vacancy rate had dropped to 67 percent.

“Our vision is to restore the Galleria as the premier shopping and lifestyle destination for Broward County,” said Galbut, who purchased the asset through his family office, GFO Investments.

The buyers, which includes InSite Group, have declined to provide the sale price as well as additional details about their plans for the 799,851-square-foot mall. GFO and InSite will oversee the redevelopment of the asset, while Mathrani, through Atlas Hill Real Estate, will lead the repositioning.

The sale does not include the Dillard’s department store, which is separately owned.

The seller, Keystone-Florida Holding Corporation, had tried to redevelop the mall into a residential complex with as many as 1,900 units, but local officials blocked the plans. In 2023, after passage of Florida’s Live Local Act, which curtails municipalities’ power to block residential development if certain affordable housing metrics are met, the company relisted the mall. The firm was eyeing a $100 million sale.

Other prominent South Florida real estate players, such as Nitin Motwani and Michael Comrass, explored buying the property. Robert Given, Brad Capas and Casey Rosen of CBRE represented the seller.

A representative for Keystone-Florida could not be reached for comment.

Julia Echikson can be reached jechikson@commercialobserver.com.

Update: The story was updated to include the sale price.