Don King is bobbing and weaving to avoid foreclosure on a massive Palm Beach County property.
An entity linked to the legendary boxing promoter filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization last week for the 53-acre jai alai fronton at 1415 45th Street in Magnolia Park, narrowly dodging a court-ordered foreclosure auction, the Palm Beach Post reported.
The filing hits the pause button on a Taylor Made Lending affiliate’s $43 million foreclosure lawsuit brought against King, his business entities and DK Arena. The lender secured a final judgment in November after suing for foreclosure a year ago. The site was scheduled to hit the auction block on Monday.
But the sale has been canceled, the outlet confirmed with the Palm Beach County Clerk, giving King, who is 94, some breathing room. The future of the sprawling site is in the hands of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of Florida.
The bankruptcy filing listed DK Arena’s liabilities between $50 million and $100 million, which includes the $43 million owed to the lender in loans, fees and costs.
The goal isn’t a traditional financial reorganization, but rather a structured exit strategy, King’s Boca Raton-based bankruptcy attorney Robert Furr told the outlet.
The next step is to establish a marketing plan to sell the property via competitive bidding within a 90-day window.
The fronton was built in the 1950s, rebuilt after a fire in the late 1970s and closed in 1994. “It’s the largest piece of undeveloped land east of Interstate 95 in this area of Palm Beach County,” Furr told the Post.
A portion of the property serves as parking for the adjacent Tri-Rail station, making it a prime candidate for a major transit-oriented workforce housing development, encompassing either rental apartments or for-sale townhomes.
The property represents nearly half of Mangonia Park, a municipality spanning just 108 acres between West Palm Beach and Riviera Beach.
Developers have been circling the property for years, and Mangonia Park Town Manager Ken Metcalf told the newspaper that the town receives inquiries multiple times a week.
The only holdback to development is a big one: The town’s drinking water supply is at 75 percent capacity, meaning a developer will need to help fund a larger water storage tank before starting construction.
King’s late wife, Henrietta, purchased the fronton property for $6.3 million in 1999 with the dream of transforming it into a sports and entertainment complex. However, the Kings were never able to secure a development partner or county funding, and it’s been vacant for 32 years.
—Rachel Stone