Carefree Theatre owner adds to WPB assemblage

The owner of the long-vacant Carefree Theatre in West Palm Beach bought a nearby property on Dixie Highway for an undisclosed price.

Charles S. Cohen of Cohen Brothers Realty Corp. in New York told the Palm Beach Post that he bought a 0.6-acre property at 2100 South Dixie Highway.

A deed for the sale hasn’t been recorded yet, and Cohen declined to disclose the price. The seller, Palm Beach Justice Center, paid $1.65 million for the 0.6-acre site in 2006.

Cohen last year paid $3 million for the Carefree Theatre at 2000 South Dixie Highway and surrounding properties. The theater has been dormant since the destructive 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons.

Cohen plans to raze and replace the theatre and build an adjacent mix of commercial and residential developments.

His company owns Design Center of the Americas (DCOTA), an 800,000-square-foot showroom for furniture, fabrics and accessories in Dania Beach.

Cohen Brothers Realty Corp. also owns design centers and office towers in New York, Houston and California. [Palm Beach Post] – Mike Seemuth