As AquaPlex Fell Behind, Its Owners Were Buying a Mansion in Boca
Were the owners of AquaPlex KeyWest buying a multimillion-dollar Boca Raton property weeks before the business was served with an eviction notice for not paying rent?
Did the owners behind AquaPlex KeyWest buy a multimillion-dollar Boca Raton property just weeks before AquaPlex allegedly stopped paying rent at 711 Duval Street and before employees began publicly coming forward with claims of unpaid wages?
Public documents suggest they did.
Palm Beach County records show a property purchase earlier this year in the millions, followed just two months later by what appears to be an internal transfer into a LLC.
The property was marketed as a large luxury home in a gated Boca Raton community, according to real estate listing materials reviewed by Palm & Prejudice. How much does this set one back?
The Palm Beach County Property Appraiser lists a March 9, 2026 sale for $3,480,000. The warranty deed, made March 10 and later recorded in Palm Beach County, identifies the buyers as John Michael Barrett and Jonathan Barrett, a married couple as tenants by the entireties, with a mailing address associated with the Boca Raton property. The Barretts are also the owners of AquaPlex Key West and serve as the CEO and Director of Operations for Pride Holdings Group respectively.
Then, on May 20, 2026, John Michael Barrett and Jonathan Patrick Barrett transferred the property by quitclaim deed to MJ Media Holdings LLC for $10.
That $10 figure does not mean the house was sold on the open market for a couple of bucks to a random buyer. Because MJ Media Holdings LLC was no strange entity.
State corporate records show MJ Media Holdings was tied directly to the Barretts. In April 2026, the company amended its filing to use an address associated with the Boca Raton property. Jonathan Patrick Barrett was even added as manager and listed as “50% owner,” while John Michael Barrett signed the amendment. A month later, the Barretts quitclaimed the property to that same LLC.
Two professionals I spoke to, with decades of experience in both commercial and residential real estate, said transfers like this can be used for a range of reasons including estate planning, liability management, privacy, financing, or other business reasons. Neither said the transfer itself proves wrong doing.
So what is the possible significance of all this?
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