Plaza del Mar with the Atlantic Ocean and the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa at top, and Ocean Avenue on the left. Photo provided by Katz and Associates
By John Pacenti
It remains to be seen if the beloved Ice Cream Club at Plaza del Mar will debut a flavor in honor of the Minnesota Vikings.
The family that co-owns the NFL team is linked to the $37 million purchase of the Manalapan shopping center, which was recorded Dec. 30 with Palm Beach County.
The fact that the plaza — essential to coastal communities around Manalapan — was being sold was one of the worst-kept secrets.
Tenants had heard rumors that billionaire Larry Ellison was purchasing the 21-unit center but instead, it was a corporation connected to the Wilf family, which built its fortune on owning shopping centers nationwide.
Ellison recently bought the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa across the street for $277.4 million and an estate in town in June 2022 for a state-record $173 million.
Records with the Palm Beach County Clerk & Comptroller’s Office show the property was sold to Manalapan Plaza del Mar LLC, a Delaware corporation. It has the same New Jersey mailing address that is home to companies owned by the Wilf family, including Vikings Chairman Zygi Wilf, Vice Chairman Leonard Wilf and President Mark Wilf.
One of the companies at the address is K&K Developers, the company that had appeared on paperwork the plaza tenants received in December, they told The Coastal Star. The Short Hills, New Jersey, address is also home to Gardens Homes, the family development company founded by the fathers of the Wilf cousins who own the Vikings.
Company officials could not be reached for comment by phone at the New Jersey headquarters on Dec. 31.
Palm Beach connection
The Wilfs do have a connection in Palm Beach County.
Leonard Wilf has an active voter registration in the county — at an address in the town of Palm Beach owned by a trust associated with him. Mark Wilf bought a townhouse in Palm Beach in 2016 and sold it for $7 million in 2020.
Plaza del Mar, which opened in 1982, is a 102,000-square-foot plaza known for its upscale shops, diverse dining and the closest Publix for residents along that part of the coast.
The property was owned by the investment entity MSKP Plaza del Mar and managed by Kitson & Partners. Kitson did not return phone calls seeking comment. MSKP Plaza del Mar bought the property at the height of the real estate bubble in 2006 for $37.7 million, according to property records, slightly more than its latest sale price.
Jeannie Drummond, owner of Jeannie’s Ocean Boutique, said she had been asked to sign documents on Dec. 17 “just confirming how many years our lease is, etc., etc. Just insignificant questions.”
Businesses in the plaza include beauty salons, stores for jewelry and clothing, and restaurants. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
What’s next?
“I think they are probably going to tear it down,” Drummond speculated. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. No idea. We’ll just sit tight and they’ll let us know eventually, I guess.”
Without the Publix, nearby residents along the coast would need to go over the bridge to Lantana Road for groceries.
The plaza also has a Chabad, and an Evelyn & Arthur, a women’s clothing retailer, that holds charity events in the store as well as a fashion event across Ocean Avenue for residents in memory care at The Carlisle.
The Ice Cream Club is a local institution known for its unique flavors with fun names. “Garbage Can” — full of different kinds of candy bars — is an original. Insta Graham (as in Instagram) is a new flavor that is catching fire with dark chocolate and, of course, graham crackers.
Fran and Ed Guzile were enjoying eggs at John G’s Restaurant at the plaza recently. “There is a lot of nice retail here,” Fran Guzile said. “People can walk here for their groceries.”
“The Jewish community, because they have to walk to the shul, you see them walking through here,” Ed Guzile added.
On the other side of the plaza sits Hedy McDonald’s Art Basil Restaurant. She was optimistic about the new owners.
“The idea of somebody that buys the plaza and wants to be a little more involved is extremely exciting. We’d be building for the next thing,” she said.
The plaza was built on submerged lands and has tension cables in its foundation, she said. McDonald learned this when a plumber refused to do work in her restaurant out of fear of snapping one of the cables.
She noted that the shopping center is easily accessible from Manalapan, South Palm Beach, Ocean Ridge and Boynton Beach.
A friend of McDonald’s in Palm Beach was considering buying the property but said it was out of his price range.
“He’s like, it’s because that piece of dirt is awesome. There’s nothing like it around,” McDonald said. “It’s basically a plaza on the beach.”
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