JBL is seeking to rezone the 13-acre site of Rivertowne Square at 1011–1219 South Federal Highway in Deerfield Beach, Florida — a 144,000 square foot grocery-anchored center built in 1980 — and replace it with 736 apartments in two eight-story towers of 394 and 342 units, plus two garages holding 1,232 spaces.
JBL paid $18.85 million for the center. Against 736 proposed units, that is a land basis of $25,611 per unit — CRE360 arithmetic — or $1.45 million per acre at 56.6 units to the acre.
The retail does not survive intact. It contracts to 75,527 square feet, a reduction of 68,473 square feet or 47.6%, and only 24,000 square feet of what remains is new ground-floor space. The rest is inherited. 106 units are deed-restricted for households at or below 120% of AMI — 14.4% of the total. The mix is 116 studios, 379 one-bedrooms and 241 two-bedrooms; one-bedrooms are 51.5% of the plan.
A land basis of $25,611 per unit is what makes this work, and it is only available because the seller was pricing 1980 retail income while the buyer was pricing 2026 residential density.
The unit mix says who this is for. More than half one-bedroom, with 116 studios, is a workforce product, and the 14.4% deed-restricted component is the entitlement currency being spent to get eight stories on Federal Highway.
This is an application, not an approval. City Commission hearings remain pending, and the entire basis argument collapses if the rezoning fails or is conditioned down.
Implications: for owners of 1970s and 1980s Florida centers, the relevant comp may no longer be a retail cap rate but a residual land value per entitled unit — run both. For buyers, note that 47.6% of the retail GLA is the price of the density, and underwrite the surviving inline space at what an eight-story residential base can support, not at legacy strip-center rents.
Flag: JLL's release on the original trade cites $18.75M; Connect CRE cites $18.85M. We use $18.85M and disclose the spread.
Key Takeaways
- Land basis is $25,611 per proposed unit and $1.45M per acre at 56.6 units per acre (CRE360 derived)
- Retail contracts 68,473 sf or 47.6%; parking runs 1.674 spaces per unit and the affordable share is 14.4% (CRE360 derived)
- A 1980 grocery center's highest and best use is now measured in dollars per entitled apartment, not dollars per leased foot
Connect CRE, 'JBL Hopes to Convert Deerfield Beach Retail Center into 736 Apartments', Aug 2026 · JLL newsroom, 'Grocery-anchored retail center in Broward County sells' (original trade basis) · City of Deerfield Beach Planning & Development Services — rezoning and development agreement status · CRE360 analysis
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