Premium real estate prices have reached the upscale shopping strip of Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale as two retail buildings sold for $940 per square foot.
Maus Family LLC and J. Water McCrory, as trustee of a family trust, sold the buildings at 800 and 808 E. Las Olas Blvd. for $14.53 million to 800 Las Olas LLC, an affiliate of Fort Lauderdale-based Hudson Capital Group. They total 15,459 square feet of retail space.
That pricing on Las Olas hasn’t broken $1,000 or $2,000 per square foot like recent deals in Miami’s Design District or Wynwood, but it’s starting to heat up. Downtown Fort Lauderdale has seen an influx of residents amid a wave of apartment construction.
Bank of America provided a $10.88 million loan to the buyer.
Steven W. Hudson, the manager of Hudson Capital Group, said he doesn't plan to make any changes to the property or its tenant roster. He noted that he already owned property on Las Olas.
The tenants at 800 and 808 E. Las Olas are clothing retailers Maus & Hoffman and J. McLaughlin, respectively. The buildings were constructed in 1958.
"I was born and raise here and Las Olas has great potential," Hudson said. "It should be the premier shopping district in Broward County, certainly Fort Lauderdale. It should be like the Mizner area in Boca Raton and Delray Beach on Atlantic [Avenue], and to a lesser extend Worth Avenue and Lincoln Road. We won't see $300 [per square foot] rents anytime soon, but rents are going up."
The retail building at 804 E. Las Olas Blvd. sits between them and is owned by a different party.
