Q&A: South Florida’s Suburban Development Shift

By Dennis Kaiser

There’s a commercial boom underway in the South Florida suburban enclave of Pembroke Pines, as local developers, national investors and industry heavyweights look to bring urban-style living to the area. Connect Media asked David Martin, president and co-founder of South Florida-based developer Terra, to share what’s driving all of this new investment activity in a market located between Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

Q: Can you tell us a bit more about the growth of the demand for developers to build in Pembroke Pines?

A: Some of the largest commercial real estate deals to take place in South Florida this year weren’t in Downtown Miami or Fort Lauderdale – they were in Pembroke Pines, a suburb with the second-highest population in Broward County. Home to a thriving residential market and a growing base of large corporate tenants, Pembroke Pines is seeing a surge in demand from both residents and employees for urban-style centers with retail and entertainment offerings in the area.

The vast majority of residential product in Broward County is located in the suburbs, and the increasing population and rising income levels in Pembroke Pines are driving retail demand and expansion. Our mission at Terra has always been to develop projects that improve communities, and we’re doing just that with Pines City Center by meeting growing retail demand with a development that caters to residents’ everyday needs.

Q: We’d like to know more about this CRE boom in Pembroke Pines. Can you point to recent transactions that reflect all that’s happening?

A: In February, two adjacent shopping centers in Pembroke Pines, known as the Westfork Plaza and Paraiso Parc, were acquired by an Illinois-based real estate investment trust for $163 million, marking Broward’s largest retail real estate transaction in almost a year. In April, a 700-unit apartment complex known as The Montage at City Center traded for $159 million, followed by another rental community, the Town at Pembroke Pines, which was purchased for $87 million by a real estate group in Boston. Also, most recently as of mid-July, a retail center known as University Marketplace sold for upwards of $21 million.

Q: What is Terra’s involvement in Pembroke Pines and how will the project impact the community?

A: Our firm, Terra, is currently developing Pines City Center (pictured below), a new 47-acre mixed-use development which will be comprised of 300,000 total square feet of lifestyle-oriented retail, entertainment and restaurant space alongside 385 residential apartments. We’re also planning to bring in a movie theater, fitness center and an eventual hospitality component to the multi-phase project. Next door, the City of Pembroke Pines recently completed a $60-million civic center featuring a performing arts center and conference hall, an outdoor plaza, art gallery and new City Hall.

For comments, questions or concerns, please contact Dennis Kaiser