Menin picks up Delray retail strip for $26M

Craig Menin’s Menin Development just closed on its $25.6 million purchase of a Delray Beach retail strip sandwiched between two condo developments.

County records show an affiliate of Menin purchased the single-story shopping outlet at 241 Northeast Second Avenue, which measures 31,700 square feet and was built in 1954.

Dubbed Esplanade in the Grove, the strip has an eclectic mix of Mom and Pop tenants including a laundromat, bookstore, chiropractor and the upscale Bistro 241 restaurant that features Mediterranean and American fare.

Aerial view of the property

It was sold by a 50/50 partnership between Bob Dockerty and Craig Romer, the two principals of mortgage brokerage Dockerty Romer & Co.

Dockerty, who’s fresh off brokering a $105 million office sale in Aventura last month, told The Real Deal that Esplanade was a personal investment outside of the partners’ brokerage.

The two paid $2.55 million for the property in 2001 and sat on it for roughly 15 years before being approached by Menin.

“We just decided it was probably a good time to sell,” Dockerty said. ““Delray is a very affluent community; everybody up and down the East Coast wants to be in Delray.”

He said the strip was roughly 95 percent leased at the time of its sale. Esplanade also enjoys foot traffic from the two surrounding condo complexes, which house nearly 300 units altogether.

This most recent sale breaks down to nearly $808 per square foot — more than 10 times what Dockerty and Romer paid 15 years ago.

Menin Development, which has its offices in Delray Beach, is a private real estate company that builds, owns and manages commercial properties. The firm mainly looks for institutional-level retail buildings in affluent communities, according to its website.

Requests for comment to a Menin executive were not immediately returned.