Barnes & Noble, rebounding on the success of giving its local store operators more autonomy, plans a new store in the Town Center at St. Lucie West in Port St. Lucie at a former Party City location. Barnes & Noble says it opened more new stores in 2024 alone than in the 10 years ending in 2019. It opened stores in Naples, Tampa and Tequesta this year.
Logistics company Prologis plans to fill a man-made lake in Fort Lauderdale and put up a 650,000-sq.-ft. warehouse.
Miami-based Related Group paid $50 million to Aventura-based BH Group and Boca Raton-based Pebb Enterprises for a site at ODP corporate headquarters in Boca Raton where it plans 500 Class A apartments. BH and Pebb acquired the office campus from ODP in 2023 and are redeveloping it as the Eclipse mixed-use town center project.
REDEVELOPMENT
- Coconut Grove-based developer Terra and Palm Beach-based developer Frisbie Group paid $20.9 million for 16 acres of the 47-acre Palm Beach Kennel Club former dog racing site in West Palm Beach. They plan apartments and commercial space on the site. The seller, a company of the Pittsburgh Steelers-owning Rooney family, will relocate casino operations to its remaining portion of the site.
- Developer Daniel E. Edwards paid $18 million to acquire the 73-year-old oceanfront Horizon of Delray Beach co-op, a 10-unit building in Delray.
- Pennsylvania-based volume builder Toll Brothers wants to build 74 homes on the former Hidden Valley golf course in Boca Raton. The 55-acre property has been idle since 2006. The clubhouse burned in 2010.
LITIGATION
- Under a settlement with makers of PFAS “forever chemicals,” Fort Lauderdale will receive approximately $35 million, Boca Raton $32 million, Delray Beach $15 million and Hollywood, Hallandale Beach, Dania Beach and Sunrise a combined $35 million. The amounts were based on the volume of water each city treats. The cities say their water is safe to drink. Only some will spend the money on water treatment.
RECREATION
- Developer Nova Park Life wants to put a 180-pad RV park on 14 acres south of Pahokee near Lake Okeechobee.
REAL ESTATE
- Atlanta-based Pulte Group broke ground on The Cottage District, a 41 single-family home workforce housing initiative on a 4.5-acre site in Boynton Beach. The 19 single-family homes for moderate-income people are priced at $301,860. The 22 townhouses for low-income households are priced at $234,780.
- Affordable housing developer Housing Trust Group and Mount Hermon African Methodist Episcopal Church opened 104-unit Mount Hermon Apartments, a $43.5-million, affordable housing development for seniors in Fort Lauderdale. Rents range from $433 to $1,422 per month.
EDUCATION
- Deerfield Beach-based franchise company Learning Experience was bought by New York private equity firm Harvest Partners from another such firm, San Francisco-based Gold Gate Capital. Gold Gate acquired it in 2018.Terms weren’t disclosed. Learning Experience has 430 schools and another 240 schools in development. CEO and cofounder Richard Weissman will stay on to run it.
MANUFACTURING
- Miramar-based contract drug and supplement maker Sofgen Pharmaceuticals closed its Riviera Beach factory and laid off 57.
- Boca Raton spent $70,000 for a“NYtoBoca.com” digital billboard advertisement in Times Square pushing the city’s quality of life and Florida’s lack of an income tax. The countywide Business Development Board similarly has advertised in New York in the past.
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
“It’s a testimony to the developer’s tenacity. He was able to get this approved.”
— Douglas Ellimansales executive Seth Mansfield, on Forté Luxe, a Forté Development project on the Intracoastal in the extreme south of historically development-hostile Martin County. Forté CEO Marius Fortelni is building 17 townhouses that run from 3,550 to 5,074 square feet and start at $4 million. The project will be finished in summer 2026. It also has 13 boat slips for purchase by unit owners. The site, once a Navy seaplane base, is on a peninsula. “It’s pretty panoramic,” Mansfield says.