West Palm Roxy's Pub spared from auction. But now foreclosure looms

West Palm Beach’s Roxy’s Pub has narrowly avoided a sale on the auction block for now, but financial pressure persists and a foreclosure looms. The public auction set for June 2 to satisfy a $1.2 million judgment from a 2020 negligence lawsuit was canceled after a settlement reached this week with the plaintiff, Rafael Perez-Valdivia. The suit stems from an incident in which Perez-Valdivia alleges he was injured after being harassed and struck by a patron with a beer mug. The bar and its adjacent building at 309 and 313 Clematis St. are owned by RP Palm Beach and Von Esselborn Inc., both controlled by John Webb, who reopened Roxy’s in 2007 after converting it from a Prohibition-era speakeasy. Separately, a Newtek-backed foreclosure suit targets a $4.9 million construction loan dating to 2022 and renegotiated in 2024 and 2025, with payments allegedly due Nov. 5, 2025. The lender lists liens from several construction firms, the city of West Palm Beach, and the U.S. Small Business Administration, underscoring broader financial strain on the property and its owners even as the bar remains legally open.