Mount Vernon Pays $67M for Palm Beach Gardens Publix Plaza

Boston-based Mount Vernon Company has paid $67 million for Promenade Shopping Plaza, the Publix-anchored center at 9810 Alternate A1A in Palm Beach Gardens, marking the firm’s first major shopping center purchase in South Florida. The seller was Nuveen Real Estate, and JLL Capital Markets brokered the deal on the sell side. Palm Beach County’s tax roll still lists the prior owner, TRPF Promenade Plaza LLC, an entity tied to Nuveen, a lag the appraiser’s office says is normal for one to three weeks after closing.

Why it matters

An out-of-market institutional buyer paying $67 million for a single grocery-anchored strip is a live comp for anyone pricing South Florida retail right now. Mount Vernon, led by chairman Bruce Percelay, has built its reputation in Boston multifamily and office; this purchase is its entry bet on Palm Beach County retail, and the price it accepted sets a marker for every grocery-anchored center owner in the South Florida market weighing a sale. The center sits on 22.81 acres and was 98 percent leased at the time of sale, with Publix, Planet Fitness, Goodwill and Ace Hardware among the tenants, and a Goldfish Swim School under construction.

The numbers

Palm Beach County Property Appraiser records show the parcel carrying four buildings totaling 215,997 square feet, built in 1989. At $67 million, that prices out to roughly $310 a foot. The same parcel last sold for $49,250,000 in April 2017, per the recorded warranty deed, putting this sale about 36 percent above that price nine years later. The appraiser’s roll has not yet posted a 2026 sale entry or a new deed book and page for the transaction, consistent with the office’s stated posting lag.

What’s next

Watch the Palm Beach County Clerk’s official records for the new deed and any acquisition mortgage to post against the parcel, which will confirm the exact financing structure behind the buy. For developers and owners holding grocery-anchored retail anywhere in Palm Beach or Broward counties, this trade is now the number to cite when a broker asks what the market will bear, and whether Mount Vernon returns for a second South Florida center will say whether this was a one-off or the start of a platform push into the market.