SOUTH FLORIDA NEWS

The Sears at Town Center Boca Raton Is Becoming a Mini City

The country's biggest mall owner wants to turn a dead department store into a walkable district with a hotel, apartments, and a pedestrian Main Street. The Sears closed in 2018. Now Simon Property Group has a plan.

• Simon filed plans for a 197-room hotel, 374 apartments, and 157,000 square feet of retail on the former Sears site.
• The project covers 31.6 acres and includes a landscaped north-south Main Street designed for pedestrians.
• Simon acquired the Sears parcel for $23 million in 2025 and filed the proposal in May 2026.

The Sears at Town Center at Boca Raton opened in 1980 and closed in 2018. It has been sitting empty ever since. Now Simon Property Group, the largest mall owner in the country, has filed plans with the city to demolish…

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Live Local Act 2026 Now Covers City-Owned and Church Land

The changes took effect on July 1 and put government-owned land and church land on the table for housing for the first time.

Key Takeaways

• Florida's Governor DeSantis signed the 2026 Live Local Act update, House Bill 1389, which took effect on July 1, 2026.
• The law's by-right zoning now extends to land owned by cities, counties, school districts, and qualifying religious institutions.
• It is the fourth consecutive year Florida has expanded the law since the original 2023 version.

Florida just widened its most powerful housing law again. According to The Real Deal, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the 2026 update to the Live Local Act, which took effect on July 1, 2026. The vehicle was House Bill 1389, and it passed near-unanimously: 98 to 4 in…

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$85M Bond-Themed Villa Skyfall Could Set a Delray Record

Developer Aldo Stark built a Bond-inspired 22,400-square-foot estate for himself in Stone Creek Ranch, only to then list it. He is trying to break a record he already holds.

Key Takeaways

• Villa Skyfall is listed for $85 million in Stone Creek Ranch, which would shatter the Delray Beach single-family record if it sells near that.
• The current record is $55 million, set by the same Aldo Stark, for his Ferrari-themed build, Casa Maranello, which sold at full ask.
• The James Bond theme includes a museum-grade car gallery, but unfortunately excludes the actual Aston Martin from the Skyfall 007 movie.

According to Robb Report, developer Aldo Stark has listed Villa Skyfall, his own James Bond-inspired residence at 16121 Quiet Vista Circle in…

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EffectiveAgents Ranked Larry Mastropieri Among the Top 0.34% of Lighthouse Point Realtors®

Lighthouse Point ranks among South Florida's most exclusive waterfront markets, built around a canal system that feeds directly into the Hillsboro Inlet. That geography drives a specialized real estate market where deep-water access, dock capacity, and canal frontage matter as much as square footage. EffectiveAgents currently tracks 1,743 licensed Realtors® competing inside this metro.

Local buyers and sellers picking representation face difficulty separating volume-driven producers from waterfront specialists with verified performance records. Larry Mastropieri holds EffectiveAgents' Top 0.34% Lighthouse Point placement and EffectiveAgents published the rank directly as #6 for Q2 2026. This article breaks down the math behind that placement, the…

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Boca Raton vs West Palm Beach: Family Coast or Billionaire Gateway?

Boca Raton and West Palm Beach are both Palm Beach County cities, but they offer opposite versions of coastal wealth. Here is how the family-oriented suburb and the "Wall Street South" high-rise city compare.

Quick verdict: Boca Raton vs West Palm Beach

Choosing between Boca Raton and West Palm Beach comes down to whether you want an established family-oriented coastal suburb with A+ schools and a low-rise downtown, or a fast-growing urban city with a true high-rise skyline, direct bridge access to Palm Beach Island's 58 billionaires, and the fastest luxury real estate appreciation of any major US metro. Boca is family-focused and built out. West Palm Beach is one of only three cities in South Florida with a true high-rise downtown and has earned…

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EffectiveAgents Ranked Larry Mastropieri the #1 Real Estate Agent in Boca Raton

Boca Raton has one of the most competitive real estate markets in South Florida, with 3,602 active Realtors® on EffectiveAgents' current dataset. Consumers picking local representation face genuine difficulty separating high-volume performers from data-verified professionals. EffectiveAgents answers that problem by ranking every agent on measurable performance data drawn from verified MLS transactions plus client-facing service metrics.

The platform then publishes a percentile placement showing exactly where each Realtor® sits inside the metro pool. Larry Mastropieri ranked #1 among 3,602 Boca Raton agents on the Q2 2026 EffectiveAgents awards, placing him at the tightest tier tracked on the platform. This article breaks down what the ranking means,…

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St. Andrews Country Club Said No to Boca Raton Annexation

The community has a Boca Raton mailing address, but it has never been part of the city. When Boca came asking, one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the country decided it was better off staying in the county.

Key Takeaways

• St. Andrews Country Club rejected Boca Raton's annexation pitch after its HOA concluded the city offered no significant added benefits.
• The community's $1.3 billion tax base would have moved from Palm Beach County's rolls to the city's.
• St. Andrews used the annexation talks as leverage, and the Sheriff's Office agreed to increase patrols and meet with community leadership biweekly.

Here is something that surprises a lot of buyers. St. Andrews Country Club has a "Boca Raton, FL 33496" mailing address, but it is not…

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Larry Mastropieri Recognized as the Top Real Estate Agent in Pompano Beach for 2026 by FastExpert

Pompano Beach's real estate market runs hot in 2026, with steady demand across beachside condos, single-family neighborhoods, and inland communities. Consumers picking local representation face hundreds of licensed Realtors® without a shared performance benchmark. FastExpert answers that problem by measuring only verified MLS closings inside Pompano Beach with independently audited client feedback. Each cycle, the platform awards a single metro-level Top Real Estate Agent Pompano Beach badge to the highest-scoring professional. Larry Mastropieri earned that honor for 2026, marking his first-ever FastExpert Pompano recognition. This article breaks down FastExpert's methodology, the badge's comparison to other rankings, and Larry's Pompano Beach production…

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Inside the Mandarin Oriental Boca Raton Bankruptcy Auction

Eleven years. That is how long it took for a luxury hotel in downtown Boca Raton to go from groundbreaking announcement to bankruptcy auction. The Mandarin Oriental brand is still on the building, but nobody has ever checked in.

• Penn-Florida filed Chapter 11 in December 2025 after defaulting on a $130.2 million loan that matured in September 2023.
• The bankruptcy auction was held on June 22, 2026, with a court hearing to approve the results scheduled for June 26.
• The main secured creditor, TIG Romspen, had the right to credit bid up to the full amount of its claim.

The Mandarin Oriental hotel at 103 East Camino Real in downtown Boca Raton was supposed to be a landmark. Penn-Florida Companies announced it in 2015, promising completion by…

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Alton Delray Beach: 386 Apartments on Former Industrial Site

Kolter Multifamily broke ground on Alton Delray with a $92 million construction loan and 154 workforce housing units under the Live Local Act. First residents expected late 2027.

• Kolter Multifamily is building 386 apartments across five buildings on Congress Avenue.
• The project includes 154 workforce housing units (40%) under the Live Local Act.
• Kolter is headquartered in Delray Beach, making this a hometown investment.

Kolter Multifamily just broke ground on Alton Delray, a 386-unit apartment community on a 12.31-acre former industrial site at 2101 S. Congress Avenue in Delray Beach. According to Florida YIMBY, the project is backed by a $92 million construction loan from Madison Realty Capital. Of those 386 apartments, 154 are…

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