SADDLERY’S LONGTIME BUILDING FOR RENT
Company that bought iconic property seeks tenants, not buyer.
LAKE WORTH — The site, at 317 N. Dixie Highway, has been vacant almost two weeks. The 15-foot
horse still stands out front as cars whiz by.
Since 1958, the space belonged to McLelland’s Saddlery, the handmade saddle business, a company
one customer called the “Gucci of saddle.”
But Ted McLelland, the store’s vice president and owner, officially closed his shop on July 16. He briefly talked to The Palm Beach Post in April. McLelland, however, didn’t say much.
“I wasn’t looking to move,” he said. “The machinery is so costly to move. Our leather machinery, one of them weighs 3,000 pounds. But we’re not going out of business, we’ll still be in Lake Worth, Palm Beach County, somewhere. We don’t know where we’re going to move.”
He said he got an offer and that’s why he sold. The Post tried reaching McLelland after the sale, but was unsuccessful. McLelland’s real estate broker said he believes McLelland is working out of his Wellington home.
Peters Development, a company that owns more than 40 Lake Worth properties made the officer to McLelland for $320,000, according to Ariana Peters, a managing partner at the company.
“We bought the site because it is one of the most well recognized and talked about buildings on Dixie Highway in Lake Worth,” she said.
She said the company has already been offered $550,000 for the site, but the firm isn’t interested in selling.
“We have yet to sell any Lake Worth building in over 18 years,” she said.
The goal is to lease the location. Originally, the building was two separate store- fronts. Peters said the company is exploring the cost and path it would take to bring it back to its original state.
“For Rent” signs have been placed outside the building, but the only interest, Peters said, is from people looking to buy, not lease, the site.
“We’re open to all kinds of tenants ,” Peters said. “We try to keep a wideopen approach and invite tenants with their ideas and concepts before we make a determination.”
The building is in excellent condition, Peters said.
“It doesn’t need anything,” she said.
Chris Fleming, a senior broker at Strategic Realty Services, said he hopes Peters Development does a great job with the site.
“That was a long-term business in Lake Worth, but I see it as a positive that there are new owners willing to invest,” Fleming said. “Hopefully it will be a piece of the puzzle that makes Dixie Highway a viable commercial corridor again.”
In April, months before he closed on the deal, McLelland sounded busy.
“Nothing’s been easy,” he said, declining to elaborate.
Thomas McLelland opened his custom saddle shop in Danville, Va., in 1892. His son, Clarence, built up the business. Clarence’s son, James and James’ wife, Ruby, moved to Lake Worth and started the saddlery shop.
Ted McLelland told the Post in 2001 the family had a ton of support.
“We have a lot of nice help,” he said. “Wish we had twice as much.”