Integra Investments paid $14.85 million for a strip mall in the Palm Beach County town of Lantana with plans to turn a portion of the property into affordable housing, using provisions from Florida’s newly enacted Live Local Act.
Located at 1001 S. Dixie Highway, Lantana Village Square spans 19 acres and houses Winn Dixie, Subway, West Marine and H&R Block locations.
The Miami-based developer plans to replace a Kmart store that’s been closed for three years with a 400-unit rental building, which will include some workforce housing units and retail space on the ground floor, said a spokesperson for Integra. The remaining stores will be renovated.
A similar push failed last year. Morgan Group, which was under contract to buy the Kmart parcel, proposed building an apartment complex with 231 units. The Lantana council rejected the plan last year after nearly a dozen residents spoke out against the application, according to WPTV.
The rejection torpedoed the sale to the Morgan Group. Integra bought the 165,000-square-foot shopping center from Saglo Development, which had paid $10.2 million in 2017, according to property records. A representative for Saglo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Integra plans to bypass local authorities and zoning laws by using Florida’s Live Local Act. The law, enacted earlier this year, requires local governments to approve multifamily developments in areas zoned for commercial or mixed uses if at least 40 percent of units are designated as affordable housing.
