Richard Pinsky

The city of West Palm Beach last fall bought seven acres on South Dixie Highway in a $2.9 million deal that axed mega-retailer Wal-Mart’s bid to build a “Neighborhood Market” in the space. And that deal has been a boon to Commissioner Shanon Materio’s run for re-election, with commissioners frequently citing the transaction as “key to revitalizing the city’s East End,” according to the Palm Beach Post. Now, it’s become clear that a local lobbyist with ties to Materio was behind the deal, the paper reported. [more]

Wal-Mart is planning to add 10 new locations in South Florida by the end of 2013, although most will be smaller than their typical stores. While a new location in North Lauderdale will be 182,000 square feet, the others will range from 92,000 square feet to 152,000 square feet, according to company officials. “South Florida is a big area of opportunity,” said Michelle Azel Belaire, senior manager at Wal-Mart. In addition, several existing stores will add full-service groceries, including locations in Kendall, Cooper City, Hallandale Beach and Sunrise. [Sun Sentinel]
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Wal-mart is set to open a 180,000-square foot supercenter at 7800 West McNab Road in North Lauderdale next year, the company said. The store will replace the existing North Lauderdale store five blocks away at 7300 West McNab Road. The city commission is expected to sign off on the project as early as August, according to the Sun Sentinel.
“I’m happier than a pig in mud,” said North Lauderdale Mayor Jack Brady. “It’s a great thing for our residents in today’s economy.”
The site was previously home to a U-Pick, which closed in 1998.
Wal-Mart bought the 40-acre plot in 2006 for almost $17 million, according to county property records with the aim of transforming it into a massive supercenter complex featuring an 80-room hotel, restaurants and 36,000 square feet of additional shopping. [more]

The North Hills Square shopping center in Coral Springs has been sold to Dizengoff-Trading Group for $8.9 million, according to the South Florida Business Journal. The 64,000-square-foot property is the third retail acquisition in the past two years for Dizengoff, which opened an office in Boca Raton in 2009 and has invested more than $70 million in Florida real estate since then. [more]

Residents in Delray Beach gathered yesterday to prepare for a protest against a proposed 24-hour Walmart at the site of a former Ralph Buick car dealership along Federal Highway. The plan would require a zoning change to be discussed at a meeting of the city’s planning and zoning board next week. Currently, the site is zoned for automotive use, and according to a homeowner who lives nearby, there is a dealership interested in the site. While some residents are planning to march on city hall, others have hired a lawyer and are planning to attend the meeting to support the opposition, arguing that there’s already a 24-hour Walmart in town, and a second one would have a negative economic impact on the neighborhood’s small businesses. [Sun Sentinel]

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Walmart Stores, the nation’s largest retailer, is scouting new
locations in Palm Beach County, as is Aldi, a German discount grocer
making its first move to South Florida. Walmart is already interested
in building a 77,000-square-foot location on Federal Highway in Delray
Beach, and sources say locations are being sought in Bentonville. The
company is also looking to build another location on Federal Highway, a
90,000-square-foot site on Federal Highway and Gulfstream Boulevard in
Boynton Beach. Aldi, a German discount store, already has 1,000
locations in the United States, but none in South Florida. [Palm
Beach Post via Miami Herald]

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The Palm Springs Land Development Board approved a zoning change to allow commercial development on an 18-acre property currently home to a mobile home park. Sunshine Village, which has about 70 mobile homes and is seen as a source of affordable housing, could be cleared out if developer Cornerstone Palm Springs wins full village council approval for the zoning move, a precursor to the building of a Wal-Mart on the site at 10th Avenue North. The developer has not yet filed a site plan for the parcel. [Sun Sentinel]

The Palm Springs Village Land Development Board will make its recommendations tonight on whether a Wal-Mart should replace Sunshine Village, a longstanding mobile home park on 10th Avenue North. If the zoning change is approved to allow construction, about 60 occupied mobile homes on the park’s 17 acres would have to be razed. [Palm Beach Post]

Supermarket chain Publix may head away from shopping centers and toward
stand-alone stores as it does the math on the changing commercial real
estate landscape. Woolbright Development CEO Duane Stiller said
landlords seek 12 percent returns on their properties, way up from a
few years ago. In the current market, Publix could issue a bond at 6
percent and build its own store at half the cost. Wal-Mart and Target
have already started to take that option in some parts of the country. [more]

Critics of the planned 220,000-square-foot Wal-Mart supercenter in
Miramar have blocked the plan and won a definitive legal victory.
Wal-Mart bought the building site in 2005, paying $10 million for 29
acres at Flamingo Road and Miramar Parkway. Area residents cited
concerns about traffic and congestion for an already busy shopping hub,
and the City Commission vetoed the project. Wal-Mart sued, lost and
appealed. Broward Circuit Court Judge Robert Carney denied Wal-Mart’s
request for appeal, ending the bid for a big box project. [more]