{"id":202693,"date":"2026-04-19T18:18:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T18:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/202693\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T18:18:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T18:18:08","slug":"nyc-developer-stephen-ross-has-sights-set-on-west-palm-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/202693\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC developer Stephen Ross has sights set on West Palm Beach"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stephen M. Ross, who as former head of Related Cos. drove development of Time-Warner Center at Columbus Circle and Hudson Yards, is creating a new Boomtown USA far from Manhattan\u2019s West Side \u2014 in West Palm Beach<\/a>, a short bridge stroll across the Intracoastal Waterway from its wealthier cousin, Palm Beach Island.<\/a><\/p>\n

West Palm, long in the shadow of its glam neighbor, has emerged as a live-work-and play model for what Ross sees as a \u201cnew Silicon Valley.\u201d A business-friendly political climate, sunny weather and pandemic-driven demographic patterns contributed to the surge in West Palm\u2019s prime, waterway-fronting district.<\/p>\n

His new company, Related Ross \u2013 not affiliated with New York-based Related Cos. \u2013 is leading a development boom that includes other real estate companies. But Ross\u2019s private $10 billion investment is by far the largest to date.<\/p>\n

Stephen M. Ross has spent $10 billion to create a new boomtown in the West Palm Beach area. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s downtown\/waterfront section of West Palm<\/a> feels worlds removed from the pleasant but somewhat sleepy backwater it was until not long ago. Sidewalks bustle with residents, office workers and shoppers amidst the din of construction sites.<\/p>\n

The commercial towers are rapidly filling up. In perhaps the largest lease, California-based ServiceNow launched a second headquarters in 200,000 square feet at Ross\u2019s 10 City Place.<\/p>\n

Wells Fargo signed for 50,000 square feet at One Flagler, a 27-story tower on Lakeview Avenue with restaurant Milos at its base. Wells Fargo isn\u2019t fleeing Manhattan \u2013 it just expanded to nearly 1 million square feet at Hudson Yards. But Ross told The Post the One Flagler move is \u201csignificant because they\u2019re moving their wealth management office from New York and St. Louis.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the residential side, Ross reported $1 billion in condo sales in the past six months. Apartments at Robert A. M. Stern-designed, South Flagler House, tower, to open in 2027, are priced up to $72.5M
Reflecting a \u201cwellness\u201d and educational priority of his company and of the city of West Palm Beach, a 125,000 square-foot Cleveland Clinic outpatient center is coming in 2028 and a Vanderbilt University graduate campus as well.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, CityPlace, Ross\u2019s first West Palm project opened on 72 acres two decades ago, is flourishing with welcoming public spaces, 60 stores and restaurants and new tenants including Eataly and Equinox.<\/p>\n

California-based ServiceNow has launched a second headquarters Ross\u2019s 10 City Place. Ross Related<\/p>\n

Ross said CityPlace was \u201cahead of its time,\u201d launched before West Palm Beach gained traction as a commercial and residential hub. He gradually bought more properties nearby, but things really took off when COVID-19 struck, compelling families and companies from around the country to check out South Florida\u2019s low-tax, business-friendly environment as well as the mild weather.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw how the world was changing,\u201d Ross said. \u201cI realized I was sitting on something unique. Palm Beach County\u201d \u2013 one of the nation\u2019s largest \u2013 \u201cwas so right for development. I saw it as becoming the next Silicon Valley and we\u2019re trying to make that a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cI see a lot of firms from Boston looking seriously here. It doesn\u2019t happen overnight. But companies are looking at much larger spaces here than before,\u201d including at least one from Manhattan.<\/p>\n

A rendering of 1 Flagler Place. Ross says Wells Fargo is moving its wealth management office from New York and St. Louis. Ross Related<\/p>\n

Ross had help along the way. West Palm Beach mayors and city commissioners have helped to spur development with infrastructure investments, zoning changes and other incentives which benefit other developers in the area as well.<\/p>\n

Ross created or is developing more than 3.2 million square feet of offices with an eventual 8 million planned in a total of 11 buildings. Four condo and one rental apartment building are open and an \u201caffordable\u201d rental tower is planned.<\/p>\n

A rendering of the Vanderbilt University graduate campus planned for West Palm Beach. Ross Related<\/p>\n

Ross credits current Mayor Keith James for an holistic, \u201cinclusive growth\u201d approach that recognizes new projects can\u2019t succeed without attracting talent drawn by superior lifestyle and wellness facilities. City officials worked with Ross to even make micro-adjustments to zoning, for example to allow two kitchens in a single residence to accommodate religious and dietary needs.<\/p>\n

Ross said the old days of viewing Miami and its suburbs mainly as the \u201cgateway to Latin America\u201d are over \u2013 \u201cnow we see it as most attractive to American business.\u201d<\/p>\n

His first move beyond West Palm Beach will be in Wellington, an equestrian-focused area in the county with a lot of developable land about a half-hour from West Palm. Village Landing will be a mixed-use project including a hotel, a school, town homes, retail and restaurants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stephen M. Ross, who as former head of Related Cos. drove development of Time-Warner Center at Columbus Circle…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":202694,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[288,1489,3640,9,56,63,65,64,1491,3274,46932],"class_list":{"0":"post-202693","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-commercial-real-estate","10":"tag-florida","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-ny","13":"tag-nyc","14":"tag-nyc-headlines","15":"tag-nyc-news","16":"tag-real-estate","17":"tag-realty-check","18":"tag-stephen-ross"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202693\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}