Lennar to Buy Boynton Beach Mall, Plans Homes, Shops and Civic Space on 91-Acre Site

Miami-based homebuilder Lennar is set to buy the Boynton Beach Mall and plans to replace the struggling 41-year-old shopping center with a mixed-use community built around housing, a company spokesperson confirmed to WPTV on Oct. 22. Lennar said it expects to complete the purchase of the 91-acre site early next year and described the project as a way to help ease what it called Palm Beach County's severe housing shortage.

The deal, which comes days after most of the mall's tenants were told to vacate by Jan. 15, 2027, would turn one of Palm Beach County's oldest regional malls into one of its largest redevelopment sites. A purchase price has not been disclosed.

What Lennar is planning

In a statement shared with WPTV and its sister station WFLX, Lennar said planning is in the early stages and that it looks forward to stakeholder feedback. The company said its vision is a mix of single-family attached housing complemented by retail, commercial, open space and civic uses, to create what it called a walkable, connected environment.

Lennar has not said how many homes it intends to build or when construction could begin, according to reporting by CBS12. The company also has not released a site plan or said how much of the existing mall structure would be demolished.

The site already has an important entitlement in place. In 2020, the city of Boynton Beach rezoned the mall property from commercial retail to suburban mixed-use, a change that allows up to 1,700 new housing units along with commercial development, according to the Palm Beach Post. Any specific plan Lennar brings forward would still go through the city's site plan review.

Tenants told to leave by Jan. 15

The sale news followed a wave of lease termination notices. On Oct. 20, WPTV reported that tenants had received notices from the property's owner, Washington Prime Group, instructing them to vacate by Jan. 15, 2027. At the time, the city told the station it had not been notified of a finalized sale and referred questions to the owner, which did not respond to WPTV.

CBS12 reported that a Washington Prime spokesperson said the notices were issued in anticipation of a prospective redevelopment of the center, and that JCPenney, Cinemark and Christ Fellowship may continue operating beyond the January date. Those three own their buildings, which are not part of the sale, according to reports on the deal.

For small business owners, the deadline is personal. Kevin Ng runs Sarku Japan, a restaurant that has been in the mall since 1992. His father took over the business in 2006 and Ng took responsibility for it in 2020. He told WPTV the notice was not a surprise. "I knew this day was going to come," he said. He added that he is still trying to figure out what comes next for the family business.

Four decades of rise and decline

The Boynton Beach Mall opened on Oct. 9, 1985, on land west of Congress Avenue. It was developed by the Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation and later became part of Simon Property Group, which spun it off to Washington Prime Group in 2014 along with dozens of other properties. Over the years, the mall lost a long list of anchors, including Burdines, Lord & Taylor, Jordan Marsh, Mervyn's, Sears and, most recently, Macy's, which announced in January 2025 that it would close its store there.

Some milestones in the mall's history, drawn from WPTV, the Palm Beach Post and the mall's public record, are below.

When the city rezoned the property in 2020, then-Vice Mayor Justin Katz described the mall as an outdated model sitting on "a wasteland of concrete," the Palm Beach Post editorial board recalled in 2023. At the time, a third of the mall was vacant, according to a letter sent on behalf of the owners. When JLL began marketing the property in 2023, it pitched the site as positioned to benefit from strong demand for large-scale residential development.

The mall's owner has also been shrinking. In April 2025, Business Observer reported that Washington Prime, an Ohio company, had put or was close to putting its entire portfolio up for sale, including its malls and shopping centers in Florida.

On a recent visit, WPTV found sparse parking lots, a quiet food court and vacant storefronts. Shoppers' reactions were mixed. One man told the station the mall had been "a little tired for a really long time" but would be a great location to reinvigorate, while a longtime visitor called it a landmark for old-timers who still come back.

Part of a Florida trend

The Boynton Beach deal is the latest example of declining retail property in Florida being eyed for housing. Eric Dumbaugh, of Florida Atlantic University's School of Urban and Regional Planning, told WPTV that South Florida is largely built out and needs housing, which makes retail centers an obvious place to look.

He said the Boynton Beach location seems ideal. Homes there, he told the station, would likely be a lot more affordable than what buyers expect to pay in Delray Beach or Boca Raton, even if it is hard to say what affordable means in the South Florida market anymore.

Other Florida malls are on similar paths:

• At the Mall at Wellington Green, Bainbridge Companies has proposed demolishing the vacant Nordstrom building and replacing it with a 620-unit apartment complex on about 18 acres. The plan was submitted to the village on March 31 and has not been approved.
• In Vero Beach, the Indian River Mall is being redeveloped, with demolition of the former Macy's and Sears buildings underway as the owner reworks the property into a mixed-use and retail destination.

In Wellington, some residents have pushed back on adding more apartments near the mall, citing traffic, a reminder that mall conversions often face neighborhood debate even where zoning allows housing.

What's next

Lennar expects to close on the property in early 2027. Most remaining mall tenants have until Jan. 15, 2027, to move out, while JCPenney, Cinemark and Christ Fellowship are expected to stay open beyond that date.

Before anything is built, Lennar will need to bring a detailed plan to the city of Boynton Beach, which will review details such as the number of homes and the mix of retail, open space and civic uses on the site. Lennar has said it wants stakeholder feedback as it plans, which suggests public meetings could come once the sale closes.