An organic grocer is coming to the site of the former Palm Beach Post building in West Palm Beach as part of the new owner’s plans to redevelop the property.
Tricera Capital announced its plans to rebrand the building that sits on 11 acres at 2751 South Dixie Highway. The property includes a 125,000 square feet of retail and 140,000 square feet of office space. The development will be rebranded as The Press.
The site was previously home to the printing press and headquarters for the Palm Beach Post, but was sold earlier this year by the Post’s parent company. Much of the existing structures will be preserved, including the Post’s office building and printing press, according to a release.
The Post will remain a tenant at the redeveloped property and is set to occupy 35,000 square feet on the second floor.
Tricera Capital, which is led by Scott Sherman and Ben Mandell, paid $24 million for the Palm Beach Post campus in February.
Sherman said the redevelopment plans are driven, in part, by a void for quality Class B office space in West Palm Beach amid an influx of new Class A buildings.
“There is a real gap in the market. There are four Class A office buildings, and if you want to get into those buildings you are paying $70 [per square foot],” Sherman said. “We are not going to compete against a Class A building. We are going to make this the best B building in the market.”
Sherman declined to announce the grocery store tenant, but said in the next 60 to 90 days Tricera will be able to provide more information on tenants.
The redevelopment of the Palm Beach Post building follows a trend of newspapers and legacy media companies selling off their real estate assets in order to compensate for dwindling circulation and advertising revenues.
Last year, Cox Media sold the Palm Beach Post and the Palm Beach Daily News to GateHouse Media.
NAI/Merin Hunter Codman Chairman Neil Merin and Commercial Associates Christopher Smith and Jaime Chamberlin are handling office leasing for the former Palm Beach Post building, on behalf of Tricera.
Tricera’s Justin Lustig and Mandell are handling retail leasing at the property.
Demolition of a two-story office building and bridge located on the site is already underway. The project is set for completion in the first quarter of 2021, according to a release.
Earlier this year, Tricera Capital, along with RRE Investments, paid $13.25 million for the Flagler Uptown and the Hive mixed-use buildings in Fort Lauderdale’s Flagler Village.