Menin Development wins initial approval for redevelopment of Delray Beach shopping center

277-unit apartment building would have 20% of units with below-market rents

Rendering of The Linton and Craig Menin
Rendering of The Linton and Craig Menin

Menin Development won initial approval to redevelop part of a Delray Beach shopping center into a mixed-income apartment complex.

Delray Beach-based Menin plans to develop The Linton, a five-story, 277-unit apartment building, on the site of a 78,399-square-foot retail building. It has one vacant bay and two others occupied Guitar Center and PetSmart.

Sports Authority and Orchard Supply Hardware previously leased the vacant bay, and both subsequently filed for bankruptcy.

Guitar Center filed for bankruptcy in November, and PetSmart has been paying reduced rent since Orchard Supply vacated the shopping center about 18 months ago, Jordana Jarjura, president and general counsel of Menin Development, told Delray Beach city commissioners at their meeting Tuesday night.

A company controlled by Craig Menin, CEO of Menin Development, acquired the 9.3-acre shopping center for $33 million in 2016. The three-parcel shopping center, called Linton Commons, is at 500, 510 and 520 West Linton Boulevard.

Menin’s planned redevelopment would leave two outparcels at the shopping center intact. One is occupied by PNC Bank, the other by AT&T, Chipotle, and Cream.

“We gave rent relief to all of the tenants,” after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, Jarjura told commissioners.

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The commission gave initial approval on first reading to changes in zoning rules that, among other things, would increase the maximum building height on the development site of The Linton from 48 feet to 60 feet.

Jarjura said the 60-foot height would allow architectural features on the roof, as well as ceiling heights of 9 feet to 10 feet inside the apartments, which will be a mix of studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom units.

Menin Development plans to charge below-market rents for 20 percent of the units and reserve them for tenants with incomes ranging from 20 percent to 120 percent of median income in the area. For example, a tenant with $30,750 of annual income (or 50 percent of median income) would qualify to rent a one-bedroom apartment at The Linton for $768 a month.

Delray Beach-based Richard Jones Architecture designed The Linton as a four-sided building that wraps around a 494-space parking garage. A third-level amenity deck on top of the garage will feature a swimming pool and spa, cabanas, a clubhouse, and gym.

Menin Development has been active in Delray Beach. According to the company’s website, its projects include The Ray Hotel, a 141-room property in downtown Delray Beach, scheduled to open in July, and Delray Beach Market, a downtown food hall scheduled to open in March.

Last year, Menin paid $7.3 million to acquire the home of Johnnie Brown’s, a downtown restaurant at 301 East Atlantic Boulevard in Delray Beach.