Babcock Ranch shopping center gets refinance

The owners of a Publix-anchored shopping center in Babcock Ranch have refinanced the property for $17.74 million.

Kitson & Partners, which is building the all-solar community in rural Southwest Florida, opened the 84.410-square-foot Crescent B Commons shopping center in 2021. It was the first major grocery store and major retail center to open in the master-planned community.

CBRE arranged for the financing but did not disclose the terms nor what the money will be used for.

The center is anchored by a 48,387-square-foot Publix and is fully leased with an 18-tenant mix that includes a Starbucks, Pet Supermarket and several restaurants and service providers. CBRE says in a statement that the tenants have 11.9 years of weighted-average lease term remaining and recorded 1.1 million visitor trips in the 12 months ended September 2025 — double its 2022 total.

(The Lakeland grocer announced in December it would open a second location in the Babcock Ranch.)

Babcock Ranch is a 17,608-acre self-sustaining community that straddles Charlotte and Lee counties about 45 minutes from downtown Fort Myers. It is made up of energy-efficient homes with an 870-acre solar panel farm powering it and its own water reclamation facility.

About 50% of the community’s acreage is preserved.

CBRE's Richard Henry, Michael Ryan, Blake Cohen and Taylor Crowder represented Kitson & Partners.