Leesburg Marketplace, a retail center located along U.S. Highway 441 in Leesburg, was sold to an international buyer from Argentina for $11.5 million last week.
Orlando-based property owner Omega Florida Properties LLC sold the retail center to Florencia Gancedo, operating as Keka Property Investments LLC.
Commercial real estate brokerage firm Marcus & Millichap represented the seller in the deal.
“The real story here is that the real estate market is becoming so attractive to international buyers from South America and that is where we’re really seeing a lot of activity,” Salim Valiani, managing director of investments in Marcus & Millichap’s Orlando office, said. “….This buyer, being an international buyer, is looking for a lot of ‘status quo’ type of operations. They love being in smaller markets, they love working with local tenants.”
With 81,071 square feet of retail space spread across a 9.35-acre property, Leesburg Marketplace was built in 1987 and is currently 95% occupied.
Anchored by a Dollar Tree, the retail center also contains an Ollies Bargain Outlet, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recruitment office, laundromat, coffee shop, fitness center, salons, restaurants, and an insurance agency.
Valiani said the property’s location in a growing city like Leesburg and its status as an occupied retail center with mostly local tenants made it attractive to numerous potential buyers.
“That area, when you have a Leesburg zip code, it attracts a lot of buyer pull and you just need to find that right buyer,” he said. “We had multiple people who were interested and we wanted to make sure we had the right buyer for the property. We wanted someone who would be able to see the value, benefit from it and grow the market.”
The sellers, Valiani said, also did not want a buyer to demolish the property and begin another development that “does not meet the needs of the local community.”
“You’ve got to have all the ingredients for a deal to happen,” he said. “Everything came together here where we had good real estate fundamentals, we had an able, willing and ready buyer and we had a motivated seller. That’s how we were able to bring this thing together.”
Nearby in Leesburg, down U.S. Highway 27 at its intersection with County Road 25A, Dominium received approval to build an affordable housing community near Lake Harris earlier this year.
Set on a strip of land between Lake Harris and Lake Denham, the proposed 276-unit project is set to rise on 18.71 acres and will be rent-restricted apartments for families earning no more than 60% of the Area Median Income.
The development will include a fully amenitized garden-style apartment complex with a clubhouse, pool, fitness center, and community center.
East of Leesburg Marketplace, continuing on U.S. 441, Leesburg Lakefront RV Park LLC — an entity operated by developer and OtherStreet founder Enon Winkler — received approval in November to develop a mixed-use community on the shores of Lake Griffin.
Located north of U.S. Highway 441 and east of Pemble Road, the Leesburg Lake Front development is set to include 278 multi-family units on 20.36 acres along the lake.
Initially proposed as an RV park with glamping options, the mixed-use development is expected to include 12,000 square feet of commercial space, a 2,800-square-foot clubhouse, a leasing office and a 1,400-square-foot boathouse.
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