Midtown Equities, led by Alex Vadia, has acquired The Shops At Sunset Place for $65.5 million from FRIT Shops at Sunset Place, a joint venture between Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE: FRT), Grass River Property and The Comras Company. The 9.7-acre, 524,180 square foot shopping center, which is located at 5701 SW 72nd St., Sunset Drive in South Miami, last traded for $111.5 million in 2015, representing a significant loss for the selling joint venture. The shopping center’s current occupancy is reportedly just below 60%, a significant gap from the reported 83% in March 2020.
The Shops at Sunset Place was initially developed in 1999 and plans have been approved for a major renovation which would include the addition of 414 rental apartments, 182 hotel rooms, reducing the retail component to 440,148 square feet and adding 32,840 square feet of office space. The impact of COVID-19 stalled the development plans when Federal Realty Investment Trust was hit with a $50.7 million net impairment charge in Q3 2020 when its $60.6 million non-recourse CMBS loan matured and was declared in default by the lender.