Publix Drops $72M for Miami-Dade Retail Center

Publix is Florida’s most ubiquitous grocery chain, but it’s also turning into a prolific real estate investor. 

The Lakeland, Fla.-based grocer paid $71.9 million for a shopping center that it anchors near Kendall, Fla., property records show. 

The 207,470-square-foot Hammocks Town Center sits adjacent to Killian Parkway at 10201 Hammocks Boulevard, within the Hammocks community in Miami-Dade County. Besides Publix, tenants include West Kendall Regional Library, CVS, Dollar Tree, YouFit and Subway. 

Regency Centers Corporation sold the asset. The transaction equated to about $347 a square foot and excluded five retail buildings that are on the same corner, where McDonald’s, 7-Eleven, Bank of America and Chase Bank operate. 

Since last year, Publix has been acquiring shopping centers where it serves as the main tenant. The recent purchase in West Kendall raises the chain’s spend in South Florida to just under $345 million. 

The move is part of a broader trend among retailers to buy the properties they lease — typically in cash while interest rates remain elevated — beating out real estate investors who rely on debt. 

Publix’s other deals include the $40 million purchase of a center along Biscayne Boulevard in North Miami, as well as the acquisition of two assets in Palm Beach County for a combined $56 million. 

Representatives for Publix and Regency Centers Corporation did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.