Publix has purchased the entire Searstown Plaza on Key West’s North Roosevelt Boulevard.
Will Langley, principal broker for Berkshire Hathaway Keys Real Estate and Knight & Gardner Realty in Key West, confirmed the sale to the Keys Weekly on Jan. 12, but could not comment on the sale price or Publix’s plans for the empty Sears store that closed in August 2020. The detached Sears Auto Center building is also still empty.
Miranda Lee, who handles Publix Leasing services in Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe counties, did not immediately return calls to her office. The company’s website states, “The Publix Leasing Team is responsible for overseeing the leasing for more than 282 Publix-controlled shopping centers throughout Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. The team works diligently to create the optimum balance of local, regional and national tenants for each shopping center. In addition to negotiating new leases for in-line tenants, the team is also responsible for renewing leases for current tenants and for ground leasing or selling outparcels to users such as banks and restaurants.”
Publix’s oldest Key West store anchors one end of the shopping center, with the vacant Sears at the opposite end.
The busy shopping center also includes Royal Furniture, Outback Steakhouse, TJ Maxx, Imagination Station toy store, Ramona’s Conch Creations, doctors’ offices and the local driver license office, which is operated by the Monroe County Tax Collector.
