Benderson Development acquires three retail properties in region

East Manatee-based Benderson Development recently acquired three retail properties totaling nearly 350,000 square feet across the region, from Pinellas to Lee County. The acquisitions include shopping centers Venice Market Place and Granada Plaza in Dunedin in addition to the Lowe’s store in Estero. Both the Venice and Estero properties sold for more than $19 million combined, while records have not been updated to reflect the purchase price of the Dunedin property.

“These properties are exciting additions to our portfolio,” Randy Benderson, managing director of Benderson Development, says in a statement. 

Benderson bought Venice Market Place — a shopping center at 1568 U.S. 41 Bypass South, near Center Road, in Venice — for $9.91 million in July, according to Sarasota County property records. The seller was Selig Enterprises, a real estate and development company in Atlanta. The shopping center totals about 91,000 square feet, according to a spokesperson for Benderson. It is located across U.S, Highway 41 from the Benderson-owned Jacaranda Plaza and adjacent to a Benderson-owned former Albertsons, increasing the company's footprint in the area, according to the statement.

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Granada Plaza is a Publix-anchored retail center in the Tampa suburb of Dunedin, located off Patricia Avenue at the intersection with Main Street. It is about 80,000 square feet, according to a Benderson spokesperson. Hillcrest Investors Ltd. of Hollywood was the seller, according to Pinellas County property records, which show it purchased the property for $2 million in 2021. Property records have not yet been updated to reflect the latest sale, and Benderson did not disclose the price.

A Lowe’s home improvement store in Estero was also among the company’s recent acquisitions in the region. Benderson bought the store for $9.5 million in June, according to Lee County property records. It last sold in 2005 for $4.38 million, property records show. The property is located at 10070 Estero Town Commons Place, near the intersection of Corkscrew Road and Three Oaks Parkway. It spans about 170,000 square feet, according to a Benderson spokesperson.

On the development side, North River Marketplace is well underway, with construction progressing toward a scheduled 2027 opening. Land clearing and site work have also begun at Legacy Place in Central Florida, Wellen Town Center and Siesta Promenade.

In addition to acquiring properties, Benderson has more than 4.5 million square feet of new development underway throughout Florida, according to a statement. Among its projects are a new Publix-anchored center in Naples, which recently broke ground at Wiggins Pass Road and US 41; a new Publix-anchored mixed-use development in Venice at North River Road and Interstate 75; and North River Marketplace, which is progressing toward a scheduled 2027 opening. Land clearing and site work have also begun at Wellen Town Center, a 500,000-square-foot lifestyle center in Wellen Park, and Siesta Promenade, a mixed-use project including a boutique hotel, restaurants, retail and residential component at the gateway to Siesta Key.

“We’re expanding and enhancing our presence in growing communities,” Benderson says in a statement, “through acquisitions, new developments and redevelopments across the country.”

Founded in 1949, Benderson Development has more than 1,000 properties in its portfolio, encompassing more than 58 million square feet across 40 states.