Merchant’s Square, a Zephyrhills strip mall where Hobby Lobby opened earlier this year, is now under new ownership.
RCG-Zephyrhills SPE LLC finalized its sale of the 75,000-square-foot shopping center on Gall Boulevard on July 23 for $4.1 million. RCG-Zephyrhills is affiliated with RCG Ventures in Atlanta, according to state corporate records. It is a real estate investment group that raised more than $100 million last August to invest in “value-add shopping centers” across the country.
The price tag on Merchant’s Square is less than the $5.6 million Merchants Station LLC paid for the property in 1998 when it was anchored by Kash n’ Karry. That grocery store later rebranded to Sweetbay, which closed last year after that chain was sold to Bi-Lo Holdings.
Hobby Lobby became the new anchor for the strip mall in January when it opened a 46,000-square-foot store there.
By the time it finished raising money for its most current fund used to buy Merchant’s Square, RCG Ventures had acquired 85 properties nationwide totaling nearly $500 million in invested capital. Its portfolio at the time included 65 properties in 19 states with more than 6.75 million square feet.
This is the second major property deal in Zephyrhills this year, following All Craft Marine Holdings’ $1.5 million purchase of its manufacturing space on County Road 54 in February.
