Breakers resort execs buy bank building in Palm Beach

UPDATED, April 13, 10:50 a.m.

A shuttered bank building is now part of The Breakers real estate portfolio in Palm Beach.

An entity managed by The Breakers Palm Beach CEO Paul Leone and two other company executives paid $9.3 million for the retail property at 245 Royal Poinciana Way. 

The seller, PNC Bank, closed the branch in August of last year, according to a U.S. Department of Treasury report. The 2,778-square-foot, single-story building on a 0.5-acre lot was completed in 1973, records show. 

The shuttered bank branch is about half a mile north of The Breakers Palm Beach, a 538-key luxury resort originally founded by Henry Flagler. The oceanfront hotel property at One South County Road also features two 18-hole golf courses and a half-a-mile private beach. 

In 1987, two condominium towers with 80 apartments and 48 condos were added to the 140-acre property. 

The bank purchase was made in conjunction with Flagler System Management, a sister company of The Breakers Palm Beach, Leone said in an emailed statement. The property is within walking distance to the resort, and represents an “extremely important asset” in revitalizing Palm Beach’s main street, Royal Poinciana Way, where The Breakers owns other properties. Leone said.

In 2019, another entity managed by Leone paid $20 million for the retail and restaurant portions of a two-story mixed-use project at 221 Royal Poinciana Way, 229 Royal Poinciana Way and 231 Royal Poinciana Way. The property includes the restaurant Henry’s Palm Beach.

Except for Walgreens stores, retail trades in South Florida are off to a slow start for the first four months of the year. 

This month, Walgreens sold a store in North Miami Beach for $9.3 million. The national retailer has offloaded six stores for a combined $64.3 million since December. 

Also this month, Miami-based Black Lion Investment Group continued its commercial condo buying spree with its $10 million purchase of the restaurant space at SLS Brickell in Miami. 

And in January, ex-Russian general and real estate investor Anatoly Petukhov paid $23 million for a Pembroke Pines strip mall. 

Correction: A previous version of this story misstated Paul Leone’s title, the number of hotel rooms, the number of golf courses, and the number of units at the two condominium towers.