A real estate investment fund closed its $47.3 million acquisition of a Publix-anchored shopping center in Boynton Beach after submitting the winning bid for the property at a bankruptcy auction.
DRA Fund IX LLC bid $254 per square foot on May 3 for the 186,000-square-foot Fountains of Boynton shopping center at the intersection of Jog Road and Boynton Beach Boulevard.
Developer John B. Kennelly built the Boynton Beach shopping center in 1994. A company linked to Kennelly filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year after defaulting on a mortgage loan with a $50 million balance.
Another company linked to Kennelly sold eight South Florida properties in December to repay creditors in a bankruptcy case. The eight properties in Palm Beach County and Broward County included a waterfront parcel on Hillsboro Mile in Hillsboro Beach measuring 11 acres, plus two adjacent lots.
Bradley Shraiberg, an attorney for the debtor, told the Sun-Sentinel that DRA, the new owner of Fountains of Boynton, has a reputation for investing in major upgrades to its properties to position them for future sales.
Shraiberg told the newspaper that Fountains of Boynton has “huge upside” potential as a real estate investment. [Sun-Sentinel] – Mike Seemuth