Marcos Puente, director of acquisitions with MMG Equity Partners. Courtesy photo. Marcos Puente, director of acquisitions with MMG Equity Partners. Courtesy photo.

Pinecrest-based MMG Equity Partners is expanding its value-add commercial real estate investment strategy with the purchase of two Miami-Dade County shopping plazas for a combined $12.7 million.

MMG Equity bought Westlake Plaza northeast of Bird Road and 112th Avenue for $5.6 million from Westlake Shopping Center Inc., an affiliate of Boca Raton-based real estate firm Sevell Realty Partners Inc., on Jan. 10.

MMG Equity on Jan. 21 bought the Naranja Plaza at Dixie Highway and Southwest 145th Avenue for $7.1 million from D&G Properties Inc.

The Naranja purchase breaks down to $139 a square foot, and the Westlake purchase to $128 a square foot.

Marcos Puente, MMG Equity's director of acquisitions, called the shopping centers exciting opportunities in infill suburban locations.

"The potential for both properties is enormous," he said in a news release. "We look forward to significantly renovating both assets and seeing the finished product within the next two to three years."

The average rent is $9.50 per square foot at Naranja and $14 a square foot at Westlake, about half of the market rate, Puente added.

Value-add investments mean buyers plans renovations and subsequent rent increases. It's a popular investment choice that promises an increased revenue stream.

The 51,246-square-foot Naranja shopping strip at 27000 and 27100 S. Dixie Highway was constructed in 1980 on a 4-acre lot. It's fully leased with a Dollar General store as an anchor.

The 43,781-square-foot Westlake at 10969-10977 SW 40th St. is comprised of five buildings constructed in 1959 on 3.24 acres. The plaza is anchored by a Presidente Supermarkets grocery store.

MMG Equity's other south Miami-Dade investments include the $62.25 million acquisition last May in a four-way venture. The other buyers were CREC Capital, which took the lead on the acquisition and gathered investors to partner on the buy, Philadelphia-based value-add investor Lubert-Adler Partners LP and Miami-based real estate investor Highline Real Estate Capital.

Last October, MMG bought the Centre at Cutler Bay office and retail plaza west of Cutler Bay for $16 million, which offered an immediate upside from a 6.7-acre outparcel.

Previously, MMG bought a 6,916-square-foot retail-residential parcel at 5850 Sunset Dr. in South Miami in September. The property has 4,700 square feet of ground-floor retail and eight studio residences on the second floor.

MMG Equity's leadership includes former executives of Navarro Discount Pharmacy, including managing partners and brothers Marcel and Gabriel Navarro. They are sons of Jose Navarro Sr., who started the Navarro drugstore chain. The family sold the Navarro Discount Pharmacy chain to CVS Health in September 2014.

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