Florida Hasn't Cornered the Market on Low Cap Rates for Grocery Centers

Great read as usual. However, I disagree with Hortense Leon's article entitled “Sun Shines on Florida's Grocery-Anchored Sector” (November 2003), in which she quotes Lori Schneider, senior director of the national retail group at Marcus & Millichap in Fort Lauderdale, as saying the cap rates for grocery-anchored centers in Florida are 25 to 50 basis points lower than any place else in the country. I beg to differ. You cannot touch a good grocery-anchored retail center in California for an 8.4% cap rate. More realistically, the pricing is between 7% and 7.25% cap rates.

Regards,
John Fairchild
AMG/Commercial Inc.
Commercial Real Estate Services
Marina Del Rey, Calif.