Wellington real estate investor pays $16M for shopping center in own backyard

The son of an Andy Warhol muse galloped into Palm Beach County retail real estate, paying $16 million for a shopping center near the Wellington International equestrian center.

An entity managed by Charles “Rusty” Holzer, owner and CEO of Wellington-based Worth Capital Holdings, bought the 46,848-square-foot retail site at 13501 South Shore Boulevard in Wellington, according to records. The deal breaks down to $342 a square foot.

Holzer’s mom is Jane Holzer, a Palm Beach real estate investor who had a celebrity run in the 1960s as an Andy Warhol muse known as “Baby Jane.” She appeared in films made by the iconic artist. Rusty Holzer’s Worth Capital has acquired, financed, developed and managed about $1 billion in various real estate deals, according to an online bio. In 2019, a Worth Capital affiliate paid $175 million for the Dream Downtown hotel in New York City.

The shopping center’s seller is an entity with ties to Equestrian Sports Production, the company that produces one of the largest horse exhibition shows in North America at Wellington International. It paid $7.2 million for the property in 2010, records show.

Completed on a 5.2-acre parcel in 2006, the shopping center’s tenants include Dunkin, the Tackeria equestrian shop and Gold Coast Feed & Supply.

Wellington is for deep-pocketed horse lovers. In March, a Delaware entity paid $26 million for an equestrian estate in Wellington owned by a trust linked to billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates. The property is in Evergate Stables, where Gates’ daughter, Jennifer Gates, trains for equestrian events.

In December, Francis X. Ahearn, founder of New York City-based tech company BCM One and an equestrian aficionado, bought a waterfront spec home in Wellington for $8.2 million.