A 99-percent-occupied shopping center on South University Drive in Davie has changed hands for $25.6 million, with Massachusetts transplant Andrew Perkins adding the 30-suite property to a retail portfolio he's racing to expand across South Florida. The deal closed off-market, meaning the property never hit the open listing circuit before Perkins' firm scooped it up.
Perkins Realty Management LLC bought Davie Square at 5503-5795 South University Drive for $25.6 million in the off-market sale, according to The Real Deal. The outlet reports the center spans 106,500 square feet and that the deal penciled to $240 per square foot. The deal was priced at $25.6 million, or roughly $240 per square foot. Banesco USA provided the buyer with a $16.6 million mortgage to help finance the purchase, per the same reporting.
Built in 1998, Davie Square sits on nearly 15 acres and is made up of three single-story buildings with 30 suites, according to the report. The property is 99 percent occupied, according to LoopNet, with tenants including Memorial Healthcare System, Spice Bazar, Citrine Schools and Beyond Billiards, plus an outparcel occupied by a Denny's. The center sits near a Walmart, Target and Home Depot, and Perkins said those retail anchors, along with the property's proximity to Southwest Ranches, will help feed Davie Square's customer base.
Seller Cashed Out After Buying in 2025
The sale marks a change in ownership for the previous owner. An entity linked to Ryan Shapiro and Jonathan Wizman, both based in North Miami, had acquired Davie Square for $17.8 million in 2025 from Deerfield Beach-based SouthEast Properties — with the firm's leadership named as Ray Geiserman in one The Real Deal account and as Jay Geiserman in an earlier one from the same outlet. SouthState Bank provided a $13.4 million mortgage for that 2025 acquisition, the report notes. Drew Kristol and Kirk Olson of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller in the latest transaction.
Wizman was also behind the sale of Davie Plaza, a smaller property in Davie, offloading the 22,520-square-foot center for $6.9 million in 2025, per the same reporting. A separate account from Shopping Center Business lists that property at 22,517 square feet and notes it was 96 percent leased at the time of sale.
A Blue-Collar Playbook, Now Applied to Florida Retail
Perkins, who lives in Boca Raton, built his earlier career far from South Florida's sunbaked strip malls. From 1986 to 2012, he accumulated nearly 800 apartments, converted 400 condos and flipped more than 539 houses in Massachusetts housing, according to the report. He's described himself in blunt terms befitting that background, telling the outlet, “I'm a blue collar guy,” and adding, “I'm not trying to become a billionaire.”
Now he's turning that energy toward Florida retail. Perkins owns roughly 387,000 square feet of retail in the state already and expects to own more than 500,000 square feet by the end of 2027, the report states. He's actively hunting for South Florida properties with at least 40,000 square feet and a mix of smaller tenant spaces — a structure that can limit the impact of any single vacancy on cash flow. To fund the push, he's divesting his Massachusetts holdings to buy and improve more Florida properties, and he's using the acquisitions to reposition his equity so his two sons can eventually take over the family business.
Davie's Tight Retail Market Draws Investor Attention
Davie's retail market is characterized by low supply and high demand, and investors are clamoring for good multi-tenant retail in the town, the report notes. That appetite isn't limited to Davie Square. JBL Asset Management paid $22.3 million for the town's Ridge Plaza retail center in 2024, a property that totals 138,554 square feet and was 98.6 percent occupied at the time of sale, according to REBusinessOnline. Publix also bought a pair of Davie shopping centers for a combined $83 million in 2024, per the same account.
The grocery chain has kept buying in the region. Publix paid $83.25 million, or $406.61 per square foot, for Airpark Plaza, a 204,740-square-foot shopping center in Miami, according to CRE News.
Broader South Florida Market Sends Mixed Signals
The regional backdrop helps explain why a 99-percent-occupied center like Davie Square commands strong investor interest. South Florida's retail sector is enjoying a combination of low vacancy rates, resilient rental rates and robust leasing and investment sales, according to Commercial Observer. Miami-Dade County's retail vacancy rate fell to 3 percent in the second quarter of 2026 after net absorption of 378,795 square feet, the outlet reports.
Broward County, where Davie sits, is telling a more complicated story. The county's retail vacancy rate increased to 4.3 percent in the second quarter of 2026, up from 4.2 percent in the first quarter, with net absorption coming in at a negative 102,436 square feet, per Commercial Observer. Even so, regionwide retail investment volume approached $1.5 billion in the first half of 2026, and overall retail availability sits below 4 percent — well below the 4.7 percent national average — according to a CBRE midyear outlook. The same report projects South Florida retail rents will climb nearly 4 percent year over year in the second half of 2026, a backdrop that helps explain why 99-percent-occupied centers like Davie Square keep changing hands at a premium.
