June 10, 2025
Continental Realty Corporation Enters Miami-Dade County Retail Market With $87.5 Million Acquisition of CityPlace Doral
BALTIMORE, MD (June 10, 2025) – Continental Realty Corporation (CRC), a Baltimore-based real estate investment and management company active in 13 states with more than $4 billion of Assets Under Management (AUM), has entered the South Florida retail market with its $87.5 million acquisition of CityPlace Doral, a 235,000 square foot grocery-anchored lifestyle and entertainment center in Doral. Located at 8300 NW 36th Street, the center features more than 30 retailers and restaurants and is anchored by The Fresh Market, Cooper’s Hawk, and Anatomy Fitness. It was approximately 80 percent leased at the time of the acquisition. The multi-level shopping venue includes a structured parking garage that can accommodate nearly 1,700 vehicles, with numerous access points including a signalized intersection at NW 82nd Avenue and NW 36th Street. Danny Finkle and Jorge Portela of JLL represented the seller.
CityPlace Doral was purchased with funds from Continental Realty Opportunistic Retail Fund I, LP (CRORF) and a related co-investment. CRORF is a closed-end private equity fund, which together with multiple related co-investments, has raised $323 million. Since the inception of CRORF in 2021, CRC has acquired 15 retail properties within this portfolio comprising approximately 3.75 million square feet of space. Since 2012, CRC has raised nearly $1.3 billion in equity for retail and multifamily investments across seven real estate funds and multiple associated co-investments.
The acquisition follows CRC’s entry into the Utah retail market, with its purchase last fall of The Crossroads of Taylorsville, a nearly 630,000 square foot super-regional shopping center in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. CRC also entered the Virginia retail real estate market last year with its purchase of Gayton Crossing in Richmond and Creekside Station in Winchester. During 2024, CRC acquired three retail shopping centers, accounting for more than 900,000 square feet of space.
“CityPlace Doral is a differentiated asset, and given its exceptional roster of necessity, fitness, entertainment and restaurant tenants, it is an excellent entry into the growing South Florida retail market,” said Josh Dinstein, CRC’s Senior Vice President of Commercial Acquisitions.
“Situated in a growing submarket with high barriers to entry and a market occupancy exceeding 97 percent, this well-maintained and institutional quality center seamlessly aligns with our investment strategy of acquiring irreplaceable assets with necessity retailers in robust retail corridors. CityPlace Doral also provides substantial upside potential, given the immediate availability of desirable retail space at the center.”
Embedded and adjacent residential elements offer a dedicated 24/7 consumer audience
Delivered in 2017 and contained on a nearly 18-acre site overlooking NW 36th Street, CityPlace Doral features a strong complement of leading national retailers, experiential tenants and restaurants including Anatomy, Carrot Express, Cooper’s Hawk, Copper Blues Rock Pub & Kitchen, Kings Dining & Entertainment, CMX CineBistro, Kuba Cabana, Novecento, and Tap 42. The asset also includes Central Plaza, an open space which serves as a community gathering spot for regular event programming and features a large digital screen that broadcasts sporting events and videos.
Embedded within the property, and under separate ownership, is The Flats, a 303-unit multifamily community, , which provides a dedicated consumer audience. Nearby are The Manor at CityPlace (almost 400 units), Avalon Doral (350 units), and Céntrico by Windsor (385 units). Directly across the street is Urbana by Lennar, a development with over 900 townhomes and condominiums.
More than 460,000 people, with an average household income approaching $90,000, reside within a five-mile radius of CityPlace Doral, with a daytime population of nearly 195,000 workers within a three-mile radius. This includes nearby employment centers including the corporate headquarters of Carnival Cruise Lines, the Federal Reserve Bank, Jackson West Medical Center, and the U.S. Southern Command (2,800 employees), plus more than 14 million square feet of commercial office space. It is situated less than one-half mile away from the busiest intersection in Doral and is within proximity of the Palmetto Expressway (FL 826), Dolphin Expressway (FL 836) and the Florida Turnpike.
More than 40,000 square feet of traffic generating concepts have been added recently to CityPlace Doral, attracting brands such as Anatomy, Escapology, Oakberry, ManCave for Men, PLA Sports Bar and Semper Laser which strengthen the existing tenant mix. According to Dinstein, the opportunity to add value by capitalizing on proven tenant demand in one of the country’s fastest growing markets was a compelling reason that fueled CRC’s interest. The property draws more than 2.3 million visitors annually, according to market research company Placer.ai, with 65 percent of all visits derived from local consumers, and more than 45 percent of people staying for more than two hours.
“CRC’s in-house leasing team intends to take full advantage of the existing vacancies, to further strengthen and diversify the tenant mix with new additions intended to capture the imagination of regional consumers,” Dinstein said. “The food, fitness, entertainment and soft-good retailer categories will be specifically targeted in this strategy.”
CRC also plans to invest in a property enhancement strategy designed to improve tenancy, with a focus on upgrading the parking garage and the on-site amenities.
Expanding population and workforce propelled 82 percent growth in Doral since 2010
Home to more than 2.3 million people, Miami-Dade County has grown by nearly 9.5 percent since 2010 and is widely considered one of the top places to reside in the Southeast. Doral is recognized as one of the top 15 fastest-growing cities in the country, with 82 percent growth over the past 14 years, and is home to 16 Fortune 500 companies, including Brinks, Burger King, Carnival Cruise Line and Univision. The tripling of Doral’s population has been fueled by the second largest office and largest industrial market in Miami-Dade County, which has evolved the submarket from “Airport West” to a technology and entertainment hub.
Doral was named #2 on America’s top cities to live in for its business-friendly environment and highly educated workforce, according to Forbes Magazine. The city was also ranked 51st in the top 100 places to launch a business in the United States by CNNMoney.com.
The Port of Miami, named as the largest passenger port in the world; the presence of professional sports and a collegiate team; a vibrant arts and cultural scene; and access to white-sand beaches have all contributed to the allure of the Miami-Dade County region. According to mapping and analytics company Esri, the area’s population growth is projected to be 3.4 times higher than the United States average over the next five years.
Strategic location near highways and transportation and employment hubs
CityPlace Doral is adjacent to Palmetto Expressway and Dolphin Expressway and is approximately eight miles from Miami International Airport, which serves 150 destinations around the globe and served more than 25 million passengers last year. The airport supports 700,000 direct, indirect, and related jobs across Florida.
Additional major employers in the area include Blue Cross Blue Shield, Harley-Davidson, Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, Norwegian Cruise Line, Perry Ellis, and Walmart.
Earlier this year, Florida Commerce announced the greater Miami area lead all Florida metro areas in job gains in the trade, transportation, and utilities sector, with the addition of 7,400 jobs in January while 3,600 construction jobs were also created. The Miami area unemployment rate is 2.4 percent.
Regional center satisfies requirements of CRORF-targeted assets
“The greater Miami-Dade County region is recognized nationally for its thriving tourism industry, and in CityPlace Doral we have secured an extremely well-positioned necessity-based entertainment-oriented lifestyle center that give us a strong foothold in the South Florida market,” said CRC’s CEO, JM Schapiro. “With the opportunity to complete the leasing with high-profile retailers and restaurants who will complement our existing strong anchors, this is precisely the type of investment that leans into our marketing, leasing, and value-add expertise, while providing strong returns to our investors. We have a strong track record of collaborating with community stakeholders to lift shopping centers which have not fully realized their potential, and to significantly enhance the total shopping experience.”
“Backed by the efforts of our in-house data analytics team, we have extensively studied this market’s current and projected fundamentals, and we believe that the area’s long history of vibrant tourism and associated consumer spending, the high barriers to entry for new retail product, and the opportunity to strengthen the tenant profile combine to make this center an ideal purchase,” Schapiro added. “This transaction demonstrates our team’s extensive relationships in the retail real estate and brokerage industries. Our approach and vertically integrated resources continue to differentiate CRC from our peer group of competitors.”
CRORF targets neighborhood, grocery-anchored, lifestyle and power centers situated within the U.S.’s top 50 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA), as well as select secondary markets.
With this acquisition, CRC owns 13 retail centers in Florida, including assets in Fort Myers, Lakeland, Lake Worth, Marco Island, Naples, Ocoee, Orlando, and Seffner.
Headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland and founded in 1960, Continental Realty Corporation is a full-service commercial real estate and investment company focused on acquiring and operating retail and multifamily properties. The privately held firm owns and manages a diversified portfolio of retail centers consisting of approximately eight million square feet of commercial space and more than 10,000 apartment homes across 13 states, with a portfolio value exceeding $4 billion. For additional information, visit www.crcrealty.com.
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