Steve Ross’ Related Launches Sales of West Palm Beach Condos

Billionaire Steve Ross, champion of West Palm Beach’s office market, is launching sales of his first luxury condominium project in the city.

Ross’ Related Companies is kicking off sales for its planned two-tower South Flagler House project at 1355 South Flagler Drive, according to a press release. The 28-story, 108-unit South Flagler House will be the developer’s first luxury condo project in Florida, where he has previously invested in apartments. 

Suzanne Frisbie of the Corcoran Group’s Frisbie Palm Beach team and the Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group will lead sales for South Flagler House. Prices run from $5.9 million to $72.5 million for penthouses, according to the release. The $72.5 million penthouse asking price makes these the priciest condos on the market in Palm Beach County. 

South Flagler House condos will have two- to five-bedroom floor plans, with private elevator access, the release shows. Architecture firm Robert A. M. Stern Architects designed the two towers. Amenities will include a fitness center, pickleball court, golf simulator, Pilates studio, sports lounge, spa facilities and a pool. 

The towers will also have social and hosting spaces, including a private dining room, catering kitchen, game room, card playing room, cocktail lounge, wine cellar, library and media room. South Flagler House will also have private offices and coworking spaces, a children’s playspace and a teen lounge, the release shows.

Bryan Cho, EVP at Related Companies, noted that South Flagler House marks the firm’s 17th project with Robert A. M. Stern. 

Cho said the firm anticipates that many South Flagler House buyers will already have homes in Palm Beach and surrounding areas. 

“The single most important segment are people who are already in the area,” he said. Aside from local luxury buyers, Related anticipates buyers coming from luxury markets around the country, as both seasonal and year-round residents, Cho said.

The sales launch comes three months after Ross bought the development site from Palm Beach-based Frisbie Group and Houston-based Hines for $194.6 million in August. Suzanne Frisbie is married to David Frisbie, a founder of Frisbie and former vice president of Hines. 

Frisbie and Hines had already started sales and demolition of the site when they sold it to Related Companies. The partnership bought the land from Palm Beach Atlantic University for $41.5 million last year. Before the deal closed, rival firm Two Roads Development filed a lawsuit against Frisbie and the university, alleging it had been wrongfully cut out of a deal to buy the site. Frisbie confidentially settled the suit in July.  

In the year since Frisbie and Hines first embarked on the project, interest rate hikes have upended the lending landscape. Cho said lenders understand inventory is limited for projects like South Flagler House.

“[South Flagler House] is one of the rare projects that can get financed right now,” he said. 

South Flagler House is the latest luxury condo development to hit the market in West Palm Beach. More than a dozen projects are currently in the works in the city, including Terra and the Morrison family’s Cipriani-branded tower announced last month. The 25-story Mr. C Hotel & Residences will have 110 hotel rooms and 146 condos, and marks the first branded condo development in West Palm Beach.

Cho said Related Companies hopes to pursue other residential developments in West Palm Beach, but the firm would not pursue branded residences there. 

“That consumer knows what our brand stands for,” he said.