Seattle Investor Scoops Up Lotte Market-Anchored Retail Plaza on West Colonial

A Seattle-area investor looking to relocate to Florida made his first acquisition in the Orlando market, paying $13.23 million for the Parkwood Plaza shopping center at the corner of John Young Parkway and West Colonial Drive.

The 14.6-acre shopping center is anchored by Orlando’s first Lotte Market Asian grocery store. The Maryland-based grocery chain opened in 2019, taking nearly 63,000 square feet in a shuttered Winn Dixie. It has enhanced its offerings with a full food court, bakery and nail salon. Currently, a long-vacant bank building is being converted into a Korean barbecue.

The deal also included a KFC/Taco Bell, McDonald’s and Valvoline auto care center.

“It was a good buy, but it has a lot of moving parts because you have the main shopping center, all the outparcels and the office space in the back, which is vacant,” LandQwest Managing Director Cynthia Shelton said. The buyer, Wenxue Wang, was making a 1031 exchange, she added.

The sale included Lot 1 of Parkwood Plaza, which is anchored by Lotte Market. The seller still owns Lot 2, which is vacant and currently under contract. (Orange County Property Appraiser) Shelton and Associate Amy Foote represented the seller, Highyon Shopping Center, which had owned the property since 2013. Foote said the retail investment acquisition was in high demand, resulting in multiple offers that ultimately sold over list price to WWX Parkwood Plaza LLC.

“The Buyer’s vision is to make Parkwood a shopping hub to grab coffee, eat lunch, and grocery shop in just one trip,” Foote said. “This will add to the development and job growth along West Colonial.”

Highyon initally paid $10.2 million for the Plaza, which included the 141,617-square-foot shopping plaza as well as the adjacent 15 acres, which are vacant except for a communication tower and a parking lot. Shelton said Lot 2 of the plaza is currently under contract.

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