Sleiman Enterprises announced Wednesday it bought the Lakewood Promenade open-air shopping center at the four corners of San Jose and University boulevards.
Jacksonville-based Sleiman Enterprises did not disclose the purchase price. The sale was not recorded with the Duval County Clerk of Courts as of mid-afternoon. Indianapolis-based Kite Realty Group Trust sold the property.
The 200,000-square-foot Lakewood Promenade comprises four retail parcels.
Sleiman Enterprises Chief Operating Officer Michael McNaughton said the deal closed Monday.
McNaughton said Wednesday the property was 82 percent occupied in what he calls the dense, affluent and sophisticated Lakewood area.
“What we see is an incredibly valuable piece of property that has been essentially underserving the market for quite some time,” McNaughton said.
“We believe the current condition of the property offers significant opportunity to drive revenue.”
He said Sleiman Enterprises plans “significant” upgrades and will work with existing tenants with long-term leases on their needs and recruiting new businesses to serve the market.
“We intend to be very selective about which tenants are most appropriate in the Lakewood area,” he said.
McNaughton said upgrades will include improving the physical characteristics of the center to make it more walkable and pedestrian-friendly and also the finishes, “connecting the four corners in a visually more comprehensive way.”
“We are planning a significant investment in the center,” he said.
Tenants include Stein Mart, Tijuana Flats, Winn-Dixie and Starbucks along with 47 more retailers and food and service providers.
“To own such a renowned retail destination in one of the country’s fastest growing cities was an opportunity the company was unwilling to pass up, especially as Jacksonville’s largest privately-held owner/developer of retail,” said Toney Sleiman, CEO of Sleiman Enterprises, in the announcement.
“There are very few retail destinations in the country that provide this magnitude of an opportunity to not only control a key retail intersection, but also enhance the current retail lineup through remerchandising and community engagement,” he said.
Jacksonville-based Sleiman Enterprises last week settled a deal with the city, which paid a Sleiman company $15 million to buy The Jacksonville Landing Downtown.
McNaughton said that deal had “zero relationship” with the Lakewood purchase. “We put Lakewood under contract prior to reaching any deal with the city,” he said.
Sleiman Enterprises says it is one of Florida’s largest privately held real estate companies. It owns and manages more than 5 million square feet of retail space across 130 retail properties in Florida and the Southeast United States.
The news release said the 65-year-old company has grown into one of the country’s leading owners and developers of outdoor, open-air retail centers with properties throughout Jacksonville, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia.
It was founded by Eli and Josephine Sleiman in Jacksonville in 1955.
