New owner, new look possible for Fountains of Boynton

The Fountains of Boynton, a 186,000-square-foot Publix-anchored shopping center, is in line for a muchneeded facelift.

The 186,000-square-foot plaza at Boynton Beach Boulevard and Jog Road will be getting a new owner soon. And a renovation isn’t far behind.

DRA Fund IX LLC submitted the winning bid of $47.3 million during a bankruptcy auction Wednesday. The closing is expected this month, pending court approval, said Bradley Shraiberg, the bankruptcy attorney for the debtor.

The center’s owner, a company tied to developer John B. Kennelly, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year after defaulting on a $50 million mortgage, records show.

Kennelly built Fountains of Boynton in the early 1990s. It serves the bustling western Boynton corridor, though shoppers say the plaza is in disrepair and needs to be cleaned and repainted at the very least.

An attorney for DRA declined to comment, but Shraiberg said the fund is known for investing heavily in its acquisitions.

Publix shopping centers are highly coveted assets among institutional and individual investors, said David Restainer, managing director of commercial real estate at Douglas Elliman.

“They regard Publix as one of the best-run grocery stores in the nation,” Restainer said. “The rent is reliable.”

In recent years, Publix has been buying some of the shopping centers in which it is the anchor tenant.

In December, another company tied to Kennelly completed the $51.2 million sale of eight properties in Broward and Palm Beach counties to satisfy bankruptcy creditors. The land included an 11-acre waterfront parcel on Hillsboro Mile in Hillsboro Beach and adjacent 140- and 200-foot lots.