Stephen Ross Backs New Private School In Palm Beach County
Billionaire developer and Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross is backing a new private school in Palm Beach County set to open its doors by 2028.
Related Ross and education organization ElevateED are partnering to build Wingrove Academy, a privately owned pre-K and K-12 school in Wellington, with plans to serve 1,700 students and its high school class in 2029. The school will focus on science, technology, engineering, mathematics and athletics, according to a release.
“Wingrove Academy’s top-tier educational offerings, purpose-built for the way kids learn today, are essential to developing Palm Beach County’s full potential as a magnet for growing businesses and thriving culture,” Ross said in a statement.
A search for the head of the school is underway through Ohio-based education recruitment firm RG175. Tuition will be competitive with other local independent schools, which can top $43K a year, like Oxbridge Academy, according to Niche.
The village of Wellington agreed to sell the 70-acre K-Park site at 10040 Stribling Way to the partners, with Related Ross paying about $28M for the eastern portion of the site, where it plans a mixed-use development, and ElevateED paying at least $14M for the western portion, where the school will be built, the South Florida Business Journal reported.
The school, which will span 45 acres, is being designed by Elkus Manfredi Architects CEO and founding principal David Manfredi, a Boston-based architect who has designed buildings on the campuses of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University and Boston University.
Adjacent to the private school, Ross is planning 600 residential units, a 150-key hotel, a 250K SF shopping center and 82K SF of restaurant space, Florida YIMBY reported.
This marks ElevateED’s first project, though the co-founder and CEO, Karen Yung, has previously developed private schools in London, Singapore and Bali through Education in Motion.
“Wellington is the perfect location to launch such a vision: a vibrant village with a clear passion for exceptional education and authentic connections,” Yung said in a statement. “With our partners at Related Ross, we are committed to helping Wingrove bring this transformative learning environment to life for families, while uplifting and giving back to the local community as a fully nonprofit school.”
Open seats in South Florida private schools have become increasingly competitive in recent years, and developers and real estate agents have said it is part of the reason some families have held off on moving to the Sunshine State.
This isn’t the first education venture for Related Ross, which has also been working to raise money for a Vanderbilt University campus in West Palm Beach.
Ross spun out Related Ross last year from Related Cos., the New York-based development giant he founded, to focus on a $10B development vision for West Palm Beach. The new firm's first delivery was the 25-story One Flagler office tower that opened in February. The firm landed $600M this year for its first luxury condo project in the area.
