Recent activity across Florida’s commercial real estate sector includes new leadership appointments and notable investment sales spanning retail, industrial, and hospitality-related capital markets advisory. Personnel moves at brokerage and investment firms accompany transactions in Stuart, Longwood, and South Florida, underscoring active capital flows and ongoing retail and industrial demand in the state.
LQ Commercial promoted Kris Kral to Market Leader. Previously a Senior Associate, Kral focuses on retail leasing and has represented a range of national brands, including Ross, Ollie’s Bargain Outlets, LA Fitness, Club Studio, Michael’s, and TopGolf in the Tampa Bay market. His prior experience with The Shopping Center Group (TSCG) and RIPCO has contributed to his standing as a respected professional in the retail leasing arena.
On the investment sales front, CBRE arranged the $30.9 million sale of the Treasure Coast Commerce Center Portfolio, a seven-building, multitenant industrial portfolio totaling 153,198 square feet in Stuart, Florida. CBRE represented both seller Ted Glasrud Associates, Inc. and buyer NorthBridge Partners in the trade. The portfolio, located at 7675 SW Ellipse Way and 7897–7917 SW Jack James Drive, was 95% leased at the time of sale. The CBRE team on the assignment comprised Tyler Kuhlman, Luke Hansen, and C’jon Armstead.
In the Orlando metropolitan area, Cushman & Wakefield provided advisory services on the disposition of the Shoppes of Sweetwater, a 64,253-square-foot Publix-anchored neighborhood shopping center in Longwood, Florida, at 3857 Wekiva Springs Road. The asset sits within the Orlando MSA. Mark Gilbert, Adam Feinstein, and Mitchell Halpern with Cushman & Wakefield’s Retail Advisory Group represented the seller, Shoppes of Sweetwater, Inc. The purchaser was Graphite Real Estate, led by principals Tim McCann and Joseph Farina.
Blue Mountain Capital announced that Suraj Desai has joined the firm as Partner and Head of Hospitality. Based in the firm’s Florida office, Desai will lead Blue Mountain Capital’s national hospitality finance practice. His responsibilities include overseeing the origination, structuring, and execution of debt and equity transactions across the full spectrum of commercial real estate asset classes, with a particular emphasis on hospitality.
Colliers expanded its South Florida capital markets capabilities with the hiring of Justin Walker as Vice President in Boca Raton. Walker will focus on retail investment sales and capital markets advisory. Over the past three years, he has closed more than $100 million in transactions. He joins Colliers from Franklin Street, where he led a retail investment team specializing in net-lease and strip-center sales across the East Coast. Previously, he was a top producer at Sands Investment Group and played a role in launching that firm’s Fort Lauderdale office.
