Bridgeprep Leases 56K SF at California Club Center in Miami-Dade

BridgePrep Academy, a charter school network, signed a 56,000-square-foot lease at the California Club Shopping Center at 750 Ives Dairy Road in northern Miami-Dade, Commercial Observer reported on Oct. 9. RK Centers owns the open-air center, which sits west of Interstate 95 in Ives Estates, near Aventura.

Why it matters

Retail space that works for a school is scarce. CBRE’s Scott Goldstein, who represented the tenant with Keith Edelman, told Commercial Observer that “Miami doesn’t have a surplus of properties that work for educational operators.”

The deal also shows a school operator taking space once held by another school. Commercial Observer said the Dade County School District’s Waterways Preparatory Academy @ Kropp Annex leased the space until at least last year. For owners of aging shopping centers, education is becoming a tenant category that can backfill large boxes. See more in our South Florida coverage.

The numbers

• Lease size: 56,000 square feet
• Center size: 273,050 square feet, so the lease covers roughly a fifth of the property
• Address: 750 Ives Dairy Road, about 15 miles north of Downtown Miami
• Other tenants named: Planet Fitness, Five Below and Burlington
• BridgePrep footprint: 19 locations across Florida

Lease term, rent and opening date were not disclosed in the report. The landlord’s broker was not named. BridgePrep and RK Centers had not responded to requests for comment when the story ran.

What’s next

The open questions are timing and conversion scope. A school typically needs building-code and layout changes that standard retail boxes do not have, and the report notes that suitable properties are in short supply. Watch Miami-Dade permitting for tenant buildout filings at the address, which would show the scope of work and a likely opening window.

The Miami-Dade Property Appraiser lists RK 750 Ives Dairy LLC as owner of record for the site (folio 30-1231-015-0020).