Hitting a Solid Single

When it comes to retail investing these days, an old baseball adage might apply best: Don’t swing for the fences when a single will get you on base. (It’s spring training time here in Florida, so the analogy seems a little more appropriate.)

In this case, single-tenant retail properties might be the smartest play among commercial real estate investments, experts say. While strip centers sit empty and larger shopping centers struggle to backfill vacancies, smaller standalone spaces appear to be weathering the recession pretty well.

Miami’s New Shopping Center

Amid all the doom-and-gloom national news coverage of the busted urban condo market in Miami, something amazing has occurred in the retail sector of its central business district. Integra Realty Resources ranks Downtown Miami’s 5% retail vacancy rate as one of the lowest in the nation.

The Miami Downtown Development Authority counts 42 net new retail businesses opening there in 2009, with a total of 152 over the past five years. New additions of goods, services and entertainment choices range from a Publix supermarket to an Irish pub on Brickell Avenue.

Hooters: A Family Affair

Coby Brooks, the CEO of Hooters of America gives the impression that he’s a family guy. So he probably understands the risk he’s taking bringing in outsiders to run one of the world’s most successful restaurant concepts, which is hurting in the downturn like so many other casual dining chains.

Brooks, featured just last weekend on the new CBS reality show “Undercover Boss,” sent a letter to real estate and food industry executives this week attempting to quell rumors that the family business is about to be sold. The letter states that the company is “engaged in the financial market to find the right partner or partners” for Hooters, according to this story from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

South Florida Mall Winds Down

Palm Beach Mall’s future looks bleak now that Simon Property Group has declined to dispute a $53.2-million foreclosure. The 1.2-million-square-foot retail property goes up for auction March 4, according to this report from the South Florida Business Journal.

Whether the 42-year-old shopping mall will remain a mall in the usual sense is questionable. It has already lost one of its three remaining anchors, the rest of it has gone dark and reviving it in its current form is doubtful in this economy.

Burger King: Help Needed

Miami-based Burger King Corp. thought it would be enough to offer a double cheeseburger for $1, thinking we would all flock there for more meat than their nearest fast-food competitors. Even though that helped boost its second-quarter profits, the chain managed to tork off its franchisees in the process.

You know something’s wrong when comics start jabbing at your restaurants, as The Onion did recently. And the prospect of being able to buy a beer with your next Whopper drew about the same reaction as Apple’s new iPad.

Amendment 4 Showdown at UF

The University of Florida, normally recognized as the home of football and basketball champions, will be the venue for a key real estate debate this month. A leading expert on growth management will host a discussion on Amendment 4 on Wednesday, Feb. 10 at the Bob Graham Center for Public Service on the Gainesville campus.

Bob Rhodes, Florida’s former growth management administrator, will lead the discussion of Amendment 4, which he calls the “elephant in the growth management policy room.” The referendum on the November ballot would require approval of all local government comprehensive plans and plan amendments by voters before becoming effective, part of a wider direct democracy movement that gives citizens a larger say in land use planning.

Rebuilding Cypress Gardens

Anyone who has visited Winter Haven’s Cypress Gardens over the past several decades has fond memories of water-skiing shows, Southern belles and acres of lush landscaping. Unfortunately, all of that hasn’t been enough to attract newer generations of Florida tourists, especially with Walt Disney World just up the road in Lake Buena Vista.

And so the state’s oldest theme park, dating back to 1936, closes one history book and opens another with Thursday’s introduction of Legoland Florida, a new theme-park based on the popular building blocks. British-based Merlin Entertainments Group paid $22.3 million for the 150-acre property, which changed ownership several times in recent years but has been dormant since last fall.

My, How Malls Have Changed

Indoor shopping malls were once considered the most upscale places to shop in any city. But as the national economy has turned, so has the selection of tenants.

One such mall in Tampa, Westfield Brandon, has gotten quite a bit of publicity lately for leasing space to a tattoo parlor. (Check out this video report from WFLA-TV.) Mall management says it’s in response to changing and meeting customer demands. I’m not quite convinced.

CocoWalk Foreclosure Was Inevitable

CocoWalk, an open-air shopping center in Miami’s Coconut Grove neighborhood, has been hit with a $97.6-million foreclosure lawsuit by Bank of America, a trustee to a group of CMBS investors. The owner of the 200,000-square-foot complex paid $87 million in 2006, at the height of the commercial real estate market.

Charlotte-based Bank of America sued PMAT CocoWalk in late December to recover principal, interest and fees, according to the suit filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court. The suit states that New Orleans-based PMAT obtained a $79.4-million loan from Greenwich Capital Financial Products in August 2006, but stopped paying its mortgage in September 2009.

Panama City Clear for Takeoff

It appears the $500-million investment in Panama City’s new international airport is already starting to pay dividends, with Southwest Airlines pledging to start jet service to and from the Panhandle vacation spot next spring. The popular Dallas-based low-fare carrier has a strategic alliance agreement with the airport’s developer, Jacksonville-based St. Joe Co., for eight daily nonstop flights.

Southwest’s arrival is expected to stimulate job growth and economic development within Northwest Florida, along with providing another option to bring travelers from around the country to its beaches, says Britt Greene, St. Joe president and CEO. The major state landowner is building the airport on 4,000 acres as part of its massive 75,000-acre Bay West development.