Hometown News and Views

. . . Latest acquisition is Brooks Restaurant

By Judy Wilson

Deerfield Beach –The owner of Deerfield Florida House, an addiction rehab complex here, has amassed property in his neighborhood worth $8.25 million. Sherief Abu-Moustafa’s latest acquisition was Brooks Restaurant purchased for $2.3 million on January 1 of this year.

 In 2011, in a move protested by nearby residents, Abu-Moustafa bought a cigar store at 504 S. Federal Highway for $1.3 million and converted it into a detox facility. The Brooks property, a 12,474 square foot building and parking lot, is next door. Contacted this week, Abu-Moustafa would not say if he has plans for the building. “I have no idea what God has in store. I bought it as a good investment, a business opportunity.”

Single family homeowners living behind the cigar store on SE 5 Street and SE 5 Court, attempted to fight the detox center, on the grounds it was not compatible with the neighborhood. The city first denied Abu-Moustafa’s application to convert the cigar store, and then backed off when threatened with a civil right lawsuit by his attorney. Under the federal Fair Housing Act and provisions of the Americans With Disabilities Act, people with addictions are classified as disabled and cannot to be discriminated against when it comes to housing.

Abu-Moustafa began his  investment in Deerfield Beach 10 years ago when he purchased a portion of what is now Florida House, a large complex on the corner of Federal Highway and SE 5 Court, for $1.3 million. Later he purchased adjacent buildings for $830,000 and established a somewhat luxurious campus for private patients recovering from addictions.

Last year he paid $1.6 million for the Yucatan restaurant property at 525 S. Federal Highway, across from Florida House. No renovations have been made there yet.

Abu-Moustafa has also acquired four homes in the area west of Federal  Highway, buying some at the height of the real estate boom. Now valued at $515,120 by the Broward County Property Appraiser, his original $924,200 investment has put him upside down on those properties by some $400,000.

However, his commercial properties have withstood the real estate downturn. Those and the single-family homes are valued for tax purposes at $7.9 million, coming close the retail prices he paid of $8.25 million. 2012 taxes on all these parcels, some of the choicest land in town, were $184,241. Figures for 2013 have not yet been posted.

Abu-Moustafa is touchy about his business acquisitions.  He said he has received threatening letters about his operation when in fact he has “turned places into beautiful spots. I employ 200 people, I bring money into the community, I help people. I have done nothing but positive things for the community. How do I educate the public about what I do?”

Among other properties Abu-Moustafa has purchased recently is a former pain clinic at 318-320 Hillsboro Boulevard which he has converted into a wellness center for clients of Florida House. “Why don’t people ever talk about that?” he said.