A shopping center in Celebration, Fla., has a new owner after Publix signed up to be a 50,000-s.f. anchor tenant, reports the Tampa Bay Business Journal.
A group based in New York bought the 124,000-s.f. Water Tower Shoppes from General Electric Credit Equities in January. The center had been struggling for nearly seven years since the previous tenant, Gooding’s Supermarket, went bankrupt.
The Publix deal was a key factor to bringing in Clarion Partners LLC, which is a stakeholder in the new ownership group, according to the Orlando Business Journal.
GE Capital had foreclosed on the property but went to Osceola County late last year for approval to replace the former Gooding’s spot with a Publix, which is expected to open in the fall.
