Raanan Katz’s RK Centers buys West Palm Best Buy for $12M

Raanan Katz’s RK Centers is continuing its shopping spree for South Florida Best Buys, scooping up a store in West Palm Beach for $12 million.

Needham, Massachusetts-based RK Centers, which has a Sunny Isles Beach office, bought the store at 1880 Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard from an affiliate of Orion Real Estate Group, according to a deed.

Miami-based Orion paid $3.8 million for the 45,863-square-foot building in 1998, property records show. It was built in 1995 on 4 acres.

This is the third Best Buy-leased building RK Centers has purchased in less than a year. The retail investor bought the store at 12301 West Sunrise Boulevard in Plantation for $11.5 million in January. That came on the heels of RK Centers paying $20.4 million for the Best Buy at 10760 Northwest 17th Street in Sweetwater, near Dolphin Mall, in September.

RK Centers, which focuses on South Florida and New England, also has been betting on shopping plazas anchored by grocery stores during the pandemic. It bought a Publix-anchored retail center in Plantation for $17 million in March.

Katz founded RK Centers in 1964 when he was investing in residential real estate soon after moving to the U.S. from Israel, according to RK’s website. He made a play on Miami Beach retail in 1984 when he bought a block of stores.

Katz, who played for the Israeli National Basketball Team, also owns a minority stake in the Miami Heat, as he was one of the original 1986 partners in the team’s franchise.