In Boynton Beach, Steven Michael’s Hudson Holdings bought a 1.35-acre parcel along Northeast Sixth Avenue, just south of the city Community Redevelopment Area called Ocean Breeze East. It paid $1.1 million for the land in April 2013.
Then it teamed with Neighborhood Renaissance of West Palm Beach this year for a proposal to develop a market-rate apartment complex on its land and the CRA land, a total of 6.3 acres. The CRA board recently chose the team as the winning bidder, despite the team’s wanting the CRA land for free. The other bidder also did not want to pay.
The CRA had purchased the land and about four acres on the west side of North Seacrest Avenue for $7 million in 2007 from a man who was then-chairman of the CRA.
Mark Karageorge, property manager with Neighborhood Renaissance, resigned from the city’s CRA board earlier this year to avoid a conflict of interest. The CRA has no rules about how long after a board member leaves that the person should be prohibited from involvement with a CRA project. (Karageorge was hospitalized and could not be reached for comment.)
Near the south end of Delray Beach, along Linton Boulevard, sits Linton Towers, another office building owned jointly by DeSantis and Hudson Holdings. Purchased for $6.8 million in August 2013, the 58,069-square-foot building is fully leased, according to Michael.
The property has a 1-acre vacant parcel that they once planned to recruit Starbucks to open a drive-through coffee shop. But one went in nearby.
“I’m not sure what we will do with that extra acre,” Michael said.
— Jane Smith
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