The company behind Don King’s 53-acre former Palm Beach Jai Alai fronton in Mangonia Park has quietly filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, abruptly freezing a scheduled foreclosure auction and effectively putting one of South Florida’s last big development sites up for grabs. Instead of a quick sheriff’s sale, the move buys King’s estate time to craft a marketing plan and actively court bidders.
According to The Real Deal, DK Arena Inc., the Don King-linked owner of the site, filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of Florida. The filing lists liabilities between $50 million and $100 million, including roughly $43 million that an affiliate of hard-money lender Taylor Made Lending says it is owed. Robert Furr, King’s Boca Raton bankruptcy lawyer, told local reporters the goal is a “structured exit strategy” rather than a classic Chapter 11 turnaround.
The former fronton property at 1415 45th Street spans about 53 acres and accounts for nearly half of tiny Mangonia Park, local officials told The Palm Beach Post. Originally built in the 1950s and rebuilt after a late-1970s fire, the jai alai venue shut down in 1994 and has been largely dormant since Henrietta King acquired the site for $6.3 million in 1999. Part of the land currently operates as parking for the neighboring Tri-Rail station, which makes the tract a tempting canvas for transit-oriented redevelopment ideas.
Why Developers Are Circling
Developers have had this parcel on their radar for years, thanks to its sheer size and its sweet-spot location between West Palm Beach and Riviera Beach. Planners have floated mixed-use concepts that could bring in workforce apartments or townhomes along with commercial uses…