Downtown Delray Beach retail building sells for $12M

A retail property along Atlantic Avenue in downtown Delray Beach sold for $11.5 million, delivering a windfall for the family that owned it for more than 40 years.

The Cook family of Delray Beach, through an affiliate, sold the building at 325 East Atlantic Avenue to an entity managed by Steven Cohen of Delray Beach, records show. The buyer, 325 East Atlantic Avenue LLC, assumed a $7.5 million mortgage from the seller.

Husband and wife Lonnie and Mary Ellen Cook paid $380,000 for the property in 1977, and in 2009 transferred it to Cook Delray Holdings LLC, led by David and Mary Ellen Cook, records show.

The 11,382-square-foot building was built in 1948 on 0.3 acres, according to property records.

The buyer plans to renovate the building and lease it to new tenants, according to Lee Cohen, an associate of Steven Cohen. Current tenant Hand’s Office and Art Supply is to close soon, and Vince Canning already has shut down its business on the site.

Several retail properties in Delray Beach have traded in recent years. In February, Bradenton-based Benderson Development bought a Publix-anchored shopping center at 555 and 455 Northeast 5th Avenue for $9.4 million. In October 2019, an affiliate of Oak Street Real Estate Capital of Chicago bought a Walgreens at 3200 South Federal Highway for $6.54 million.

Also in Delray Beach, Boca Raton-based Pebb Capital purchased nearly 7 acres along Atlantic Avenue in October 2019 for $40 million, with plans to develop a mixed-use retail-office project. The property includes the historic Sundy House inn and restaurant and six historic homes that will be preserved.