Retail and net-lease property in Central Florida
Retail property in our market runs from a ±0.64-acre outparcel at the entrance of a shopping center to a ±12,289 SF freestanding building that used to sell cars. What the buyers have in common is that they underwrite the real estate first — the frontage, the access, the traffic and the building’s next use — and the income second. We sell and acquire across that whole range: single-tenant net-lease investments with national credit behind the rent, small unanchored centers, freestanding buildings with a redevelopment story, and the pads and outparcels our land practice brings to market.
Sales and acquisitions only. When a property comes with income in place, we underwrite that income the way an investor will and market the property to the buyers who price it — not to the widest possible list.
Who we represent
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Owners and sellers
Families and partnerships selling a freestanding building or small center they have held for years, developers selling a completed outparcel, and net-lease owners moving into a different asset or into a 1031 exchange. The work is a written broker opinion of value, an offering memorandum that answers a buyer’s questions before they are asked, and a buyer who can close.
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Buyers and exchangers
Private investors and 1031 exchange buyers who want net-lease income with a defined term, and the operators — auto service, medical, restaurant, convenience — who want to own the building or pad they run their business from. We source on and off market, underwrite the rent and the real estate, and manage due diligence to closing.
What drives value
Retail is priced on three things, in roughly this order:
- The location. Frontage, access points, visibility, signalized corners, traffic counts, and the strength of the anchor or the trade area around the property.
- The income. For a net-lease property, the credit behind the rent, the remaining term, the escalations and which costs the occupant carries. For a multi-occupant center, the rent roll as a whole and when each rent stream comes up for renewal.
- The real estate underneath. What the site is worth vacant, what the zoning allows, and whether the building’s next use is the same as its current one.
A net-lease building with a national credit and fifteen years of term trades at a different cap rate from the same building with three years left, and an older freestanding building can be worth more for its site than for its current use. The broker opinion of value says which case applies and prices the property accordingly.
How we work
- Broker opinion of value A written opinion of probable selling price from closed sales of comparable retail and net-lease properties, an analysis of the income in place, and the buyers currently active for that kind of property. Not an appraisal, and it may not be relied upon as one (s. 475.612, Fla. Stat.).
- Offering memorandum Site plan, aerials and photographs, the income summary, the terms of the rent in place, zoning and parcel data, traffic counts and demographics — assembled with the due-diligence file before the property goes to market.
- Buyer outreach Net-lease and retail investors, 1031 exchange buyers on a deadline, operators looking for a building to own, and developers who want the site. The property is listed on the commercial platforms and, the same week, sent directly to the buyers we know are active. Off-market sales skip the public listing and keep the rest.
- Offers and negotiation Offers are compared on price, deposit, contingencies, timing and the buyer’s ability to perform. We negotiate the letter of intent and work with your attorney through the purchase contract.
- Due diligence and closing Title, survey, environmental review, inspections, the income documentation a lender will ask for and the buyer’s financing, on a calendar we manage day by day.
What we analyze
- Traffic counts, frontage, access points and signalization
- Trade-area population, household growth and the health of the anchor
- Rent in place against what comparable space commands today
- Remaining term, escalations and renewal options
- The credit behind the rent: corporate, franchisee or local operator
- Which costs the occupant carries — taxes, insurance, roof and structure
- Cap rates from recent net-lease and center sales in the region
- Land value and the site’s redevelopment potential
- Zoning, future land use, parking and outparcel restrictions
- Property-tax reassessment at sale and insurance in the buyer’s underwriting
Central Florida context
Retail follows rooftops. The figures below are from public sources; each carries its source and date.
- Volusia County grew 9.2% from the 2020 Census to April 1, 2025 (553,543 to 604,533); Flagler County grew 22.0% (115,378 to 140,714).University of Florida BEBR, Florida Estimates of Population 2025.
- Avalon Park Daytona, approved May 2026: 2,760 acres, 8,818 homes and about 1.09 million SF of commercial space, west of I-95 and south of SR 40.Ormond Beach Observer, May 23, 2026.
- Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford added 37,690 residents between July 2024 and July 2025, the tenth-largest numeric gain among U.S. metros.U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 population estimates, March 26, 2026.
Questions we hear
What is a net-lease property?
A single-occupant commercial building — a pharmacy, a convenience store, an auto-parts store, a quick-service restaurant — where the occupant pays the operating costs (property taxes, insurance and maintenance, in what is called a triple-net or NNN structure) and the owner collects the rent. Buyers price it on the credit behind the rent, the years of term remaining and the resulting cap rate, which is why it is a common replacement property for 1031 exchange buyers who want income without day-to-day management.
How is a net-lease property priced?
By cap rate: the first-year net income divided by the price. The rate a buyer will accept depends on the credit behind the rent, the remaining term, the escalations, the location and the alternatives on the market that month. Cap rates move with interest rates and with the buyer pool, so we price from closed sales of comparable properties rather than a rule of thumb, and the broker opinion of value says which comparables we used and why.
Can you sell a retail property without telling the occupant?
Yes. An off-market sale is run under confidentiality to a defined list of buyers, with tours arranged so that a sale is not signalled to the people operating from the property. In January 2026 the principals closed an off-market sale of a 7-Eleven and O’Reilly Auto Parts net-lease property on LPGA Blvd in Daytona Beach.
Does a vacant retail building still have value?
Yes, and sometimes more than an occupied one. A freestanding building on a well-travelled corner can be worth more to a business that wants to own it, or to a developer who wants the site, than to an income investor. We value both scenarios in the broker opinion of value and market to both buyer pools, because the highest price often comes from the buyer the seller was not thinking about.
I want to buy the building my business operates from. Where do I start?
With a written requirement — the use, the size, the trade area, what you can pay and when you need to move — and a candid look at the cost of ownership: price, financing, property taxes after reassessment, insurance and the capital items the building needs. We pull the comparable sales, look at what is available on and off market and manage the acquisition through due diligence and closing. Financing and tax questions go to your lender and CPA; we coordinate with both.
Educational information only — not tax, legal or investment advice. A broker opinion of value is not an appraisal. Lifestyle Group and Oceans Commercial are not qualified intermediaries; a 1031 exchange defers tax, it does not eliminate it. Consult your own tax advisor, attorney and qualified intermediary.
