Related Ross is directing a real estate pipeline exceeding $10 billion toward Palm Beach County, with company leadership highlighting growth opportunities across single-family housing, business relocations and downtown development.
Jordan Rathlev, executive vice president for the firm, addressed nearly 1,000 attendees at the "Rock the Market Palm Beach" Event, stating that the company's "sole effort and focus" Remains in the county. "There is a tremendous amount of opportunity for growth, whether that's single-family homes, businesses relocating or building out the downtowns," Rathlev said. "The opportunity is pretty remarkable here."
Related Ross, founded by Stephen Ross, established its presence in West Palm Beach in 1997. The company's local holdings include Class A office buildings such as One Flagler, the Laurel luxury residences and the mixed-use CityPlace project in downtown West Palm Beach. The firm also supported efforts to bring Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management to the city, with a $520 million campus planned.
Recent expansion moves include plans to acquire the Boca Raton Innovation Campus, a 1.7-million-square-foot office park, and the announcement of Village Landing in Wellington, a 71-acre mixed-use development featuring restaurants, shops, a hotel and a private school.
"As we continue to build out West Palm Beach, we've obviously identified markets throughout the county, particularly Wellington and Boca, where we're expanding now," Rathlev said.
The company takes a long-term approach to its investments. "We own these assets forever, so we invest in them on the front end. We manage them, we operate them," Rathlev said. "If there's issues on infrastructure or there's issues with housing affordability, we have to think about this because our product, our projects aren't successful without thinking about that infrastructure piece."
Rathlev noted the firm adapts projects to local market characteristics. "Boca is not a high-rise market. Wellington is not a high-rise market," He said. "We are mindful and cognizant of every market we go to, what's appropriate and what's the right scale."
At CityPlace, construction continues on the 10 CityPlace office building. Additional plans include a Curio Hotel by Hilton potentially breaking ground by year's end, a Restoration Hardware store and the fully approved 515 Fern office building.