Ben Carter's Next Fortune

For Atlanta developer Ben Carter, Fortune has been fickle. Today, she's smiling upon him and his (former) 1.2M SF upscale Florida mall.

Ben Carter Enterprises just sold his half of Jacksonville's St. John's Town Center, a massive open-air mall off J. Turner Butler Boulevard and I-295 for $375M to Deutsche Bank USA. That puts the sale of his share at a 4.1% cap rate—one of the lowest caps paid for a mall in the US, at a time when malls (especially legacy indoor malls) have lost favor for investors. (But there will always be things you can only do in malls... such as mall walking.) Simon Properties, which owns the other share, will keep its stake and will continue to lease and manage the property.

This marks a huge turn of fortune for Ben, whose original “Streets of Buckhead” project clobbered him in the Great Recession. His ambitious project is only now being completed under the ownership of CBRE Global Investors and Oliver McMillan. And it appears he's on to bigger things again—including redevelopment plans for Broughton Street in Downtown Savannah. As for St. John's, the mall (partially seen here)—built in 2005—most recently secured Nordstrom. Eastdil Secured's Eric Zimmermann brokered the sale.

Continue reading this story with a free account

Log in or register
Sign up for more articles like this
Subscribe to Bisnow's Atlanta Newsletters
Related Stories

Federal Government To Sell Nearly 31K SF In Five Points: The Denver Deal Sheet

Avison Young Had Assets Frozen By Bank Over Unpaid Taxes

Philly Retail Momentum Spills From Rittenhouse Into Northern Liberties

Artificial Intelligence Companies Reshaping Dublin Office Demand As OpenAI Confirms HQ

Mars Factory Overhaul Stalls As Candymaker's Chicago Expansion Accelerates

Camden Property Trust Sells West Coast Portfolio, Clears $1.5B Target

Forget Buildings, Retailers Are Leasing Environments

Emory Takes Over Proton Center For $82M: The Atlanta Deal Sheet

King Of Prussia Pursues Stadium To Anchor $200M Mixed-Use Complex

Empire State Building Observation Deck Hemorrhaging Visitors, Value

Cortland, Pulte, INVH, Walker & Dunlop Execs Talk Changing Demographics, AI

Dewberry's Midtown Eyesore Quietly Resolves $75M Mortgage