Sembler and Forge Partnership Acquires Four Shopping Centers in Puerto Rico
TAMPA, FLA. (Feb. 15, 2012) – The Sembler Company and Forge Capital Partners announced today that the investment partnership, CRP II – PR Florida Holding, LLC, has acquired four shopping centers in Puerto Rico, USA. The four properties, comprising more than 550,000 square feet of gross leasable area, are 88 percent occupied. Among the tenants are Marshalls, Walgreens and Amigo, a local grocery chain acquired by Wal-Mart in 2003.
The Sembler Company has operated in Puerto Rico since 1995 and has developed 25 projects, totaling nearly one million square feet. The assets acquired by the partnership were developed by, and will continue to be managed and leased by, The Sembler Company of Puerto Rico, offices located in San Juan.
Forge Capital Partners sponsors closed-end private equity funds that primarily invest in retail real estate throughout the Southeastern United States. The four Puerto Rico properties bring the total acquired by Forge’s current fund, Community Reinvestment Partners II, to 14. In total, Community Reinvestment Partners II and its predecessor fund, Community Reinvestment Partners, have acquired approximately $400 million of retail properties comprising over 3.5 million square feet of gross leasable area.
“In our search for a strategic capital partner, we had interest from a number of parties,” said Greg Sembler, chief executive officer of The Sembler Company. “We chose Community Reinvestment Partners and Forge because of their capital and investment management expertise. We look forward to continuing our commitment to operating in Puerto Rico as an owner, developer and service provider.”
“The commercial real estate market continues to show signs of recovery with retail metrics continuing to improve,” said Robert Moreyra, president of Community Reinvestment Partners. “In addition, the nature of these properties fits our community reinvestment strategy, as does the timing of the investment in the economic cycle. With Sembler’s retail property management and leasing experience, we plan to enhance each property’s competitiveness to maximize the return to our investment partners, while contributing to the region’s economic recovery.”
The Sembler Company is celebrating 50 years of creating retail real estate value. Sembler provides a full array of retail real estate services, including development and redevelopment, property and asset management, leasing and other related services throughout the Eastern United States and Puerto Rico. Sembler has developed over 325 projects totaling 27 million square feet and currently leases and manages over 12.5 million square feet. For more information, visit http://www.sembler.com.
About Forge Capital Partners, LLC
Forge Capital Partners is a diversified, commercial real estate investment and investment management company. Since 2000, Forge and its principals have successfully sponsored three real estate-oriented, closed-end private equity funds: Atlantic American Mortgage Fund I, LP, Community Reinvestment Partners, LP and Community Reinvestment Partners II, LP. In conjunction with debt financing, these funds seek to invest over $600 million of capital, over $550 million of which has already been invested. Forge is headquartered in Tampa, Florida. For more information about Forge Capital Partners, please visit http://www.forgecapitalpartners.com.
Published in Press Release