American Commercial Realty Corp. bought The Shops at World Golf Village, the commercial component of World Golf Village in St. Augustine, on Wednesday for $4 million.
The shops are next to the World Golf Hall of Fame and World Golf Village Renaissance St. Augustine Resort.
Anchored by Murray Bros.’ Caddyshack restaurant and the World Golf Foundation, the shops consist of more than 80,000 square feet of rentable space among five buildings.
About 55,000 square feet of space, or 69 percent, is vacant and available.
ACR said the shops previously were owned by an institutional lender that was unable to undertake further development.
ACR President and COO Richard Baer said the property was sold by a loan servicer for a securitized lender that had assumed the deed following a foreclosure.
He said that as a proactive owner experienced in turning around troubled properties, ACR expects “to see real development at what we believe is a tremendous location.”
“We believe that the many years in which the property ownership was clouded by a loan default, foreclosure and lender ownership led further to its decline,” Baer said by email.
He said the property comprises five “very attractive well-built buildings with a plaza and lake on one side and ample free parking on the other.”
“The success of Caddyshack is not an accident. Good operators such as Andy Murray and his brothers can deliver a fine product,” Baer said.
The shops face Kelly Lake at Interstate 95 and International Golf Parkway.
St. Johns County property records show ACR, through WGV Commercial LLC, bought the center from GCCFC 2006-GG7 Legacy Trail LLC, in care of LNR Partners LLC of Miami Beach.
Records show a 2017 working assessed value of $2.2 million.
The shops were built in 1999 on 2.53 acres, records show.
The official address is 395 S. Legacy Trail. A property brochure says the addresses are 275-455 S. Legacy Trail in St. Augustine.
Records show LNR took title to the property Dec. 30, 2014.
ACR said in a news release it is “committed to make appropriate further investment.”
“There are vacancies at the center, but they were primarily the result of prior situations following the 2007 recession and a lengthy foreclosure procedure,” Baer said in the news release.
He said new ownership has the financial capability and the market experience necessary for redevelopment.
“The ACR team sees the vacancies as opportunities and has already begun the process of identifying prospective users,” Baer said.
American Commercial Realty, based in Palm Beach Gardens, specializes in the redevelopment and remerchandising of seasoned retail properties.
Last year it bought the 277,000-square-foot Highland Square shopping center in Jacksonville at I-95 and Dunn Avenue.