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Publix spends $67M to buy two west county shopping plazas where it’s the anchor store

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Publix spends M to buy two west county shopping plazas where it’s the anchor store

The math is in Publix’s favor when it buys a plaza where it’s the anchor, said an observer who calls it ‘a real estate company that sells groceries.’

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ROYAL PALM BEACH — Publix Super Markets is continuing to make big investments in Palm Beach County’s western communities. It isn’t merely opening grocery stores. Now it’s buying shopping plazas.

The Lakeland-based chain spent a combined $67 million to purchase Crestwood Plaza in Royal Palm Beach and Woods Walk Plaza near Wellington. Its grocery stores are anchors in both shopping centers.

Will store makeovers follow, similar to those shoppers have seen in Wellington, Westlake and The Crossroads shopping center in Royal Palm Beach? Not at the present time, said Lindsey Willis, a Publix spokesperson.

The two shopping plazas are among seven in South Florida that Publix purchased this month for a combined $223 million. That’s in line with the overall mission of Florida’s signature retail chain, a Florida International University professor said.

“Publix is really a real estate company that sells groceries,” said Suzanne Hollander, an attorney teaching real estate law at FIU.

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Publix Super Markets has invested in growing and revamping its presence in western Palm Beach County in recent years, as witnessed by its new stores and its renovated ones. In Westlake, it is building a commercial plaza next to one where it opened the city’s first grocery store last year.

The Lakeland-based grocer paid $21 million for the Crestwood Plaza, a 78,000-square-foot shopping center on the northeast corner of Southern and Crestwood boulevards. Besides the 51,400 square-feet Publix outlet, other tenants include a Goodwill Donation Center, a Carvel ice cream shop and a Duffy’s Sports Grill.

The grocer also bought for $46 million the Woods Walk Plaza, on the northeast corner of Lake Worth Road and State Road 7. The 88,000 square-foot shopping center features two single-story buildings and is anchored by a slightly smaller Publix of 48,000 square feet and 23 other storefronts that include a RE/MAX Realty office, Brooklyn Water Bagels and Supercuts.

In 2022, Publix also purchased for $56 million the Greenacres River Bridge Centre at Forest Hill Boulevard and Jog Road.

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Hollander said buying commercial plazas is part of Publix’s real estate strategy that allows it to operate its stores rent-free and gives it the power to select its surrounding tenants, all while receiving rent from their leases.

Unlike most traditional shopping malls that are devaluating and struggling to regain foot traffic since the COVID-19 pandemic, shopping plazas anchored by grocery stores are thriving, Hollander said.

She believes Publix’s continued real estate investments further solidify the trend of grocer-anchored shopping centers growing in value.

“Those are magnets. People come there every day,” Hollander said. “They’re going there for their shopping, but they’re also coming there for the social experience.”

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She added that the Lakeland-based grocer has also made it a focus of the customer’s experience by adding services, such as pharmacies, cafés and bakeries as well as online shopping options.

Hollander said Publix has built its real estate portfolio with commercial plazas in South Florida where there is a growing trend to build mixed-use projects that add residences.

“They’re really meeting the customer wherever the customer wants to be: in their neighborhood,” Holland said. “And that adds value to those neighboring properties and homes.”

Valentina Palm covers Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, Greenacres, Palm Springs and other western communities in Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post. Email her at vpalm@pbpost.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @ValenPalmB. Support local journalism: Subscribe today. 

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