SPOTLIGHT
New York-based Related Cos., downtown West Palm Beach’s largest commercial property owner, signed a mix of in-market relocations and satellite offices of New York financial houses to leases at its local properties.
At Related’s 25-story, 270,000-sq.-ft. One Flagler opening this year, it signed family office Bessemer Trust and private equity firm HighPost Capital, investor John Paulson’s Paulson Capital, New York-based asset manager Baron Funds, Johnson Family Foundation/Betty Wold Johnson Foundation, and Lancer Capital, part of the holdings of the Glazer family that owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Manchester United. It will be Paulson’s first Southeast office and Baron’s first South Florida location.
Related also signed JPMorgan Chase to its 360 Rosemary office building while New York-based Northwell Health opens its first office outside the Northeast U.S. in Related’s Esperante tower. Related’s CityPlace Tower, meanwhile, added venture capital and equity fund manager ClearSky.
The nine tenants combined for more than 50,000 square feet. “West Palm Beach's strong office market continues to attract the finance industry's elite corporations to South Florida,” says Jordan Rathlev, Related Southeast senior vice president. Related continues prep work on two additional downtown office towers that total roughly 1 million square feet. Related in April broke ground on South Flagler House, its first luxury condo in South Florida. The project overlooking the Intracoastal has two 28-story towers totaling 108 two- to five-bedroom units priced from $5.9 million to $72.5 million.
EDUCATION
- Palm Beach County’s public school system agreed to pay $54 million to settle litigation brought by 45 charter schools over revenue from a voter-approved tax increase the district didn’t share.
REAL ESTATE
- Maplelane Capital hedge fund manager Robert S. Crespi paid $25 million for a Palm Beach mansion. Martin County commissioners approved The Ranch, a 175-house project set on no more than 200 acres of 3,900 acres near Bridge Road and Kanner Highway. The project will include two golf courses.
- New York-based Moore Development proposes Amalfi, a 22-story, 38-unit cantilevered tower on Fort Lauderdale’s central beach.
REDEVELOPMENT
- Audubon Development says it hopes to begin construction this year on a portion of its King’s Landing hotel, restaurant and residence project on a former power plant site in Fort Pierce. Project completion would come in 2029.
- The city of Margate engaged Colliers to find a developer willing to sign a ground lease and create a downtown on 51 acres. The acreage includes the present site of City Hall, the police department and a fire station. Margate previously has failed at creating a downtown.
LOGISTICS
- Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A will hire 116 to staff a logistics center in Weston. The Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance says the company will invest $55.5 million to develop the center.
- The alliance also said Cheney Brothers’ affiliates, meat supplier Grand Western Beef and seafood supplier Crazy Fish, will expand into a 70,000-sq.-ft. processing facility employing 150 in Pompano Beach.
SERVICES
- Boca Raton-based ODP, parent of Office Depot and Office- Max, will sell its procurement platform Varis. Earlier this year, ODP laid off 75 in the Varis division.
BLUE ECONOMY
- Florida Atlantic University will host the state’s newly created Office of Ocean Economy, which is supposed to bring together research, education, technology and business efforts.