5 Questions With Todd Rosenberg of Pebb Capital
By Jeff Ostrowski May 16, 2024 3:55 pm
reprints
With a high-profile project under way in South Florida and a portfolio that includes properties in New York and Chicago, Todd Rosenberg has a full plate.
Rosenberg is a co-founder and managing principal of Pebb Capital of Boca Raton, Fla. His company is in the midst of redeveloping Sundy Village in Downtown Delray Beach, a project at the southwest corner of Atlantic Avenue and Swinton Avenue. In late 2023, Pebb landed a $173 million construction loan to fund work that includes adding 180,000 square feet of office and retail space and 268 underground parking spaces to an existing historic restaurant and inn.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Commercial Observer: What’s your main focus at the moment?
Todd Rosenberg: The Sundy development is definitely our current biggest project. It’s got a lot of components – leasing, management, construction, working with the city, working with tenants, working with lenders. As the building continues to go up, we’re getting more and more interest from potential tenants for restaurants and office space.
I’m not surprised to hear you say restaurateurs are interested, but what about the office market?
We have multiple office projects throughout Southeast Florida. In all of them, we’re seeing substantial activity, and no slowdown in leasing velocity or interest. A lot of it has to do with the under-supply of office space, and the continued compounding of the new tenant coming into the market. Wherever they go, they want to make sure it’s attractive to their employees. They want experiential retail — great restaurants, great retail.
What does that mean for the old model of suburban offices?
I am not very bullish on suburban office without amenities. When I say amenities, it’s not just a gym or a snack bar. It’s a real fitness center, real restaurants. At Sundy Village, the office sits on top of many thousands of square feet of restaurants and bars. In addition to that, we’re sitting at the corner of Atlantic and Swinton, and you’ve got restaurants, bars and retail at your fingertips.
It seems like the influx of out-of-state employers has continued.
I’m born and raised in South Florida. We were predominantly shopping center guys. Our legacy assets were strip centers, both anchored and unanchored, throughout Broward and Palm Beach counties. That was the market. When it came to real corporate employers, you had very few. That has definitely changed. A decade ago, I was looking to diversify out of Southeast Florida and into other asset classes. Now that I’ve seen this paradigm shift, I’ve refocused my efforts and attention back into Southeast Florida.
What’s your biggest challenge?
The market is still cautious. There is not the type of liquidity that would allow people to move full steam ahead. At the same time, it’s an opportunity, because the lack of liquidity in the market is bringing pricing down. Debt is not as cheap as we’d like it. We don’t control the Fed.
Jeff Ostrowski can be reached at jostrowski@commercialobserver.com.
