Just over 6 months after hitting the market, the Posner Commons shopping center in Davenport has been sold to Miami-based Orion Real Estate Group for $63.5 million.
Colliers’ retail investment team, led by Brad Peterson, Whitaker Leonhardt and Eric AmRhein, brokered the sale of the 91-acre site from Prep Property Group, which owned Posner Commons for six years, to Orion last week.
Located near the intersection of Interstate 4 and U.S. Highway 27, the shopping center was built in 2008 and serves Davenport, ChampionsGate, Winter Haven, Kissimmee and Orlando.
“The thing that’s made Posner Commons so attractive was that you’re right there at I-4 and 27, which is really prime positioning, and you have all this housing going on to the south of you,” Peterson said. “The project is already a successful shopping center and all the new residents that are going to be in those homes aren’t even hitting the cash register yet.”
Currently, the shopping center is home to Dick’s Sporting Goods, Ross Dress for Less, PetSmart, Michaels, JCPenney, Cinepolis IMAX Theater, Davenport Ale House, Best Buy and a number of smaller stores. Target and BJ’s Wholesale Club are also located in Posner Commons, but are not part of the sale because they are independently owned, according to Peterson. The sale does, however, include a 6.2-acre undeveloped lot between PetSmart and Staples that is slated for a new, expanded Ashley Furniture.
The power center is part of the Victor Posner City Center mixed-use development, which also includes the adjacent Posner Village shopping center, three apartment complexes, the Posner Reserve townhome community and a transit center.
Peterson said investors like retail, such as Posner Commons, as an asset class because it involves high-performing tenants paying low rents and allows them to buy property below replacement costs.
The number of people and homes near Posner Commons has “dramatically increased” since 2008, Peterson said, keeping rents low for tenants who agreed to lease within the shopping center years ago.
“Your downside is well-protected because the rents are low and the investment basis is low,” he said. “I think that this is a perfect example of the type of retail that investors on a national basis want to buy, this sort of strong-performing, low investment base real estate.”
With Disney World just over seven miles away, the shopping center is centrally located to serve the more than 200,000 cars per day that travel on I-4 and US Highway 27.
More than traditional shopping centers, Peterson said, Posner Commons gets a lot of afternoon and night traffic from tourists seeking items or experiences after leaving the theme parks.
“What we found is that not only do you have a good sort of resident base that shops that property, but at night, it’s funny,” he said. “If you go there in the evening, after the theme parks, a lot of people will come to that shopping center, and they’ll go to the movies or go to the Crumbl cookie store there that does really well. Just speaking with personnel at the Crumbl, she was saying how all these tourists come and take pictures in front of the store.
The deal was extremely profitable for Prep Property Group, which acquired the shopping center for just $39 million in 2018.
“Our team managed and executed our business plan through a pandemic, multiple interest rate increases, and other headwinds. We acquired Posner Commons at the right time. Just prior to the area booming with residential development” said Lloyd Sova, Vice President of PREP Property Group. “We are extremely fortunate to have our team with decades of experience to identify potential acquisitions in strong markets and execute on the acquisition business plan to get our investors a strong return.”
The deal is the largest shopping center sale in the Orlando MSA so far in 2025, according to Peterson.
Colliers has helped sell multiple Central Florida shopping centers in recent years, including The Marketplace at Seminole Towne Center for $68.7 million. The 318,623-square-foot shopping center was 98% occupied at the time of the sale last March.
In August 2024, Colliers brokered the sale of Lee Vista Promenade, an open-air shopping center located in the North Airport submarket of Orlando, for $68.5 million to Dundas Real Estate Investments.
Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at jwilkins@orlandosentinel.com or 407-754-4980. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook and LinkedIn.
