Midtown Miami developer buys shuttered Toys “R” Us in Boynton Beach

Investor Jon Samuel bought his second shuttered Toys “R” Us store, as the bankrupt retailer’s former South Florida properties continue to sell off.

Trikon Boynton Beach LLC, led by Midtown Miami developer Samuel, bought the 37,000-square-foot building at 601 North Congress Avenue in Boynton Beach for $7 million, records show. The seller is Raider Hill Advisors, a New York-based retail real estate investment and advisory firm that was retained last year as exclusive real estate adviser to the bankruptcy estate.

Samuel said he plans to redevelop the property.

In January, he bought the former Toys “R” Us store in Cutler Bay, also for $7 million.

In South Florida, former Toys “R” Us stores that have sold in recent months include Benderson Development’s purchase of a location in Plantation for $7.8 million in December, where the company is planning a PGA Tour Superstore. The same month, Benderson also bought a “Toys “R” Us in Doral for $8.5 million and a store in Palm Beach Gardens for $6.5 million.

In August, Chevy dealer Arnaldo Bomnin paid $25 million for a Toys “R” Us property at 8325 South Dixie Highway in Miami, near Dadeland Mall.

Toys “R” Us announced in July that it brought on Raider Hill Advisors to help sell off 284 stores, distribution centers and other properties across the country, after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2017. At the time, it had $5 billion in long-term debt and $400 million due in 2018. Toys “R” Us owned about a third of its 735 locations.

Toys R Us Property Company I, LLC said in March that it emerged from bankruptcy as a reorganized entity under the name Hill Street Properties. Investors in Hill Street include Empyrean Capital Partners, LP and Glendon Capital Management L.P.