$500M Miami-Area Project Gains New Backing

Transit Village. Image courtesy of Related Group

Transit Village, a $500 million mixed-use project that will span 10 acres in downtown West Palm Beach, Fla., has some well-funded investors supporting it now. Related Group, BH Group and Globe Invest Ltd., the investment arm of billionaire London-based Israeli businessman Teddy Sagi, have formed a joint venture to invest in the transformative transit-oriented development alongside its principal, Michael Masanoff.

Avison Young arranged the joint venture transaction on behalf of Transit Village and Masanoff. The real estate services firm’s Capital Markets team included Keith O’Donnell, John Crotty, Gary Gottlieb, Michael Fay, David Duckworth and Brian de la Fé. O’Donnell noted in a prepared statement that the team’s marketing efforts were made easier by the fact that Masanoff did such an excellent job of designing and obtaining entitlements critical for the support and development of Transit Village.

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Featuring the addresses of 150 Clearwater Drive & 203 S. Tamarind Ave., Transit Village will sprout up around an existing intermodal transit station, giving it a direct connection to rail and bus transit, and a location just 3 miles from Palm Beach International Airport. The project has obtained approval for 1.5 million square feet of flexible zoning uses, including approximately 300,000 square feet of office space.

“West Palm Beach has been the least negatively impacted [office] market among the South Florida region since the onset of the pandemic,” according to a third quarter 2021 report by Avison Young. “Robust demand and strong leasing activity have brought positive net absorption to its highest point since 2014.” Transit Village will also include multifamily units, a hotel, approximately 3,500 square feet of community/civic space and 24,000 square feet of retail accommodations.

Soaking up local support

Transit Village has been in the works for quite some time, and it has the backing of the public sector and a substantial amount of community support. The project has received approval for $25 million in tax increment financing and grants.

Additionally, on Nov. 1, the West Palm Beach Planning Commission signed off on a resolution related to the Transit Village project. The Commission approved the developer’s request to extend—for the second time—a parcel lease start date and the construction start date for the project’s public podium plaza from August 2023 to July 2024.