King's Market deal dead; Delray seeks buyer for Old School garage space

By DAVID SEDORE, Palm Beach Business.com

DELRAY BEACH — So much for King’s Market coming to downtown Delray.

The city commission Tuesday rejected King’s bid to buy a 10,400-square-foot storefront in the Old School Square parking garage and moved to find new potential tenants for the space.

The city had been negotiating with King’s since October, when the Boca Raton-based grocer bid $2.3 million for the space.

Negotiations broke down when King’s determined the space too small for a market and instead wanted to establish a food court.

Mayor Rita Ellis said the city has some potential buyers interested in the space. At the same time, it will look for a broker to market the space.

Originally the only other bidder for the garage space was Twin-Star International, a maker of bathroom vanities and electronic fireplaces, who wanted it for a corporate headquarters. The commission’s preference at the time was for a retailer to move in, and it still is.

Delray Chamber President Bill Wood agreed that the keeping the space retail makes sense because of the garage’s location in Pineapple Grove — a largely retail business district.

“Retail begets retail, and Pineapple Grove should be retail,” Wood said.

In other business, the commission  indicated to Planning and Zoning Director Paul Dorling a desire to clean up the hodgepodge of zoning on the north side of Linton Boulevard between I-95 and Dixie Highway. The goal is to make it more amenable for development, perhaps the construction of hotels.

Dorling, however, said that there are developers interested in building hotels in the city, they’re looking at site closer to Atlantic Avenue and the downtown.

The area now has a smattering of zones, including residential, industrial and auto commercial.

The city also could enlist the help of the Treasure Coast Planning Council in creating a development plan for the area.

Similarly the commission indicated that it wanted a plan for the South Federal Highway corridor if the massive car dealerships that now occupy the space decide to pull out.

The informal consensus was for general commercial zoning on the west side of the highway; and a mix of commercial and multifamily residential on the east side. The residential would buffer neighborhoods behind the dealerships.

The commission reviewed plans to remake Old School Square at a cost of $1.2 million to $1.7 million. One concern: the architects’ proposal to move the city’s Christmas tree toward the side and center of the property from its customary spot on the front lawn.