Acadia Realty Trust is expanding in Palm Beach County, picking up a prime retail property on Worth Avenue, the island’s storied shopping corridor where billionaire brothers David and Simon Reuben also recently made a splashy investment.
White Plains, New York-based Acadia, led by Kenneth Bernstein, paid $43 million for the one-story, 9,900-square-foot building at 225 Worth Avenue, records and real estate database Vizzda show. The seller is an entity tied to Miami Beach-based JSB Capital Group, led by Jay Lobell.
The price amounts to $4,329 per square foot.
In 2021, Aspen, Colorado-based investor Mark Hunt bought the building for $18 million, or $1,812 per square foot, records show. An affiliate of JSB Capital last year bought the entity that owned the property from Hunt, state corporate records indicate.
Completed in 1950, the building’s tenants are luxury fashion brands Gucci, G/FORE and J.McLaughlin.
Also this month, London-based Reuben Brothers and Crown Onyx went on a Palm Beach shopping spree. The joint venture paid $200 million for The Esplanade, a luxury retail center at 150 Worth Avenue, two blocks from the Reubens’ recently opened Vineta Hotel, formerly The Chesterfield.
An affiliate of O’Connor Capital Partners, led by Bill O’Connor, sold the shopping center to the joint venture. O’Connor paid $106 million for The Esplanade in 2014. The 2-acre property is home to fashion brands including Carolina Herrera, Emilio Pucci and Hublot.
The Worth Avenue purchase doubles Acadia’s retail holdings in Palm Beach County. The real estate investment trust, which has $6 billion in assets under management across 14 million square feet, focuses on open-air retail properties nationwide, Acadia’s website states. In Florida, Acadia also owns centers in Lutz, Palm Coast and Tampa. Last year, the company bought Lake Worth Beach’s Pinewood Square, a 96,600-square-foot shopping center and six outparcels, for $68 million, or $704 per square foot. The tenant roster includes Ross Dress for Less, HomeGoods, T.J. Maxx, Panera Bread, AT&T and Famous Footwear.
