Office Depot Sells Campus; Delray Sees Corporate Corridor

By Dianna Smith, The Palm Beach Post, Fla.

Jan. 3–A national real-estate services firm has purchased Office Depot’s corporate headquarters for $80 million, a move city officials hope will jump-start the city’s ambitious plans to transform Congress Avenue into a thriving, regional corporate boulevard.

Office Depot sold its 45 acres of land to Lincoln Property Co. late last month, Delray Beach Mayor Jeff Perlman said Tuesday. Dallas-based Lincoln Property is one of the country’s largest diversified real-estate companies, and its properties include retail, commercial, office and industrial buildings — a perfect mix for an avenue that city commissioners envision as a vibrant section of town for corporations, workforce housing and small businesses.

“I think it provides a major shot in the arm,” Perlman said of the sale. “I hope it’s a sign of good things to come. Our whole purpose here is to create jobs. It’s a great, great first project.” Though spokesmen from Lincoln Property Co. and Office Depot did not return phone calls Tuesday, Perlman said he’s heard talk of a hotel on the property. And he said the company is expected to leave the Office Depot buildings intact and subdivide them into smaller offices to lease.

The city approved a new law late last year increasing density and height limits along the avenue and also broadened the zoning options, including residential development. Perlman said Lincoln had been waiting for the zoning changes to consummate the deal.

Lincoln now has the option of building workforce housing, something Delray Beach commissioners hope to see more of this year because the lack of jobs and affordable housing are two of the biggest complaints from residents.

There are 171 acres available for development on Congress Avenue from the Boca Raton/Delray Beach line to West Atlantic Avenue.

In 2003, then-Chief Executive Bruce Nelson said the three-building Office Depot campus lacked parking and meeting room space, and in 2004, the nation’s No. 2 office supplies retailer almost sold the property.

Office Depot later decided against it, leaving city officials wondering how long the company would remain in Delray Beach.

For the past three years, Perlman has preached that the land is under-utilized and that it would serve as a perfect place for a corporate village where professionals could live, work and play.

Last year, Office Depot broke ground on a $210 million campus in Boca Raton after considering moving to another state.

To keep the Fortune 500 company in Palm Beach County, state and county officials agreed to give Office Depot $15 million in tax breaks, training grants and other incentives.

The recent sale falls around the one-year anniversary of the partnership hastily formed by Delray Beach and Boca Raton after leaders in south Palm Beach County realized they could have a shot at recruiting The Scripps Research Institute.

After the announcement that the research institute planned to build in Jupiter and Palm Beach Gardens, the relationship fizzled, but Perlman said he would like to bring the two back together again.

Perlman suggested the creation of a board whose members would be from Delray Beach and Boca Raton. They would market the Congress Avenue corridor in both cities and would “really go after jobs and companies,” Perlman said.

Boca Raton Mayor Steven Abrams, who has not yet been contacted by Perlman, said on Tuesday the idea “sounds intriguing.”"The Congress corridor has always been a big part of the lifeblood of our economy,” Abrams said.

Staff writers Patricia Beall, Alexandra Clough and Jeff Ostrowski contributed to this story.

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