Stephen Ross Gets Largest Construction Loan In Florida History From Ares, Monarch, HPS
Related Ross is closing out the year with a record $772M construction loan from a trio of private credit lenders for two upcoming office towers in downtown West Palm Beach.
Related Ross, led by billionaire and Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, landed the financing for 10 and 15 CityPlace in a package led by Ares Real Estate, Monarch Alternative Capital and HPS Investment Partners — marking the largest construction loan ever recorded in Florida, the developer announced Friday.
“These two towers define the next chapter of CityPlace, expanding a vibrant, walkable mixed-use district that is shaping the future of downtown West Palm Beach,” Related Ross Executive Vice President Jordan Rathlev said in a statement.
“This record-setting financing underscores the conviction our partners, Ares, Monarch Alternative Capital, and HPS Investment Partners, have in the strength of 10 CityPlace and 15 CityPlace and in the city’s momentum as a leading business hub.”
Related Ross has been busy leasing up both towers. ServiceNow inked a deal for 200K SF in September as the anchor tenant for the 470K SF 10 CityPlace. The company plans to open its regional headquarters to support technology companies by 2028.
Cleveland Clinic signed up to anchor the 490K SF 15 CityPlace tower with a 120K SF outpatient location last year. The facility will provide services like chemotherapy and infusion therapy, a concierge program, imaging, endoscopy and outpatient surgery.
Both buildings are expected to open in 2027.
Eastdil Secured advised Related Ross on securing the debt, the latest huge loan amid a stream of construction financing deals this year.
It surpassed the $668M construction financing Property Markets Group secured last year to build the Waldorf Astoria Hotel & Residences Miami. Bank OZK and Related Fund Management — a subsidiary of Related Cos., the real estate giant Ross founded — were the lenders on that deal.
Related Ross was already close to the top of the historical leaderboard when it landed a $600M loan from Bank OZK and GoldenTree Asset Management earlier this year to finish the 105-unit, 28-story South Flagler House condo tower.
Ross, who spun Related's West Palm Beach holdings into a separate company last year, has made massive strides toward building out the city. He plans to spend $10B transforming it into the “Wall Street of the South.”
But that isn’t the only title Related is going for. At a Bisnow event last year, Related Ross Vice President of Leasing Greg Kuhlman said the company was working to recruit technology companies to make West Palm the “next Silicon Valley.”
The next “big push” for West Palm Beach is going into defense tech, Rathlev said at a Bisnow event earlier this month.
The company, which has 1M SF of office space under construction, delivered One Flagler in February at 95% leased to financial firms like GoldenTree, Vista Investments of Florida and Ocean Sound Partners.
To supply the companies it is bringing to the city with educated workers, Ross personally committed $50M to Vanderbilt University's upcoming West Palm Beach campus, which is set to offer graduate-level programs in, among other things, artificial intelligence and finance. He is also funding a private K-12 school in nearby Wellington.
And this month, Related Ross announced a partnership with a company that is developing flying taxis, committing to develop a vertiport somewhere in its West Palm Beach portfolio.
