Steve Ross committed a $50 million donation to Vanderbilt University for its planned West Palm Beach graduate school campus, an expansion the billionaire developer has championed since its inception.
Including his donation, the school has raised a total of $77 million toward its $300 million fundraising goal for the project, a spokesperson confirmed. Ross isn’t the only real estate player backing the project with a donation: Frisbie Group managing partner and Vanderbilt alum Cody Crowell pledged $5 million, according to a press release.
The news comes six months after the Nashville-based university won approval to build the $520 million West Palm Beach campus dedicated to business and tech graduate programs. Renderings released in February showed two planned buildings, an “Academic and Innovation Building” and an “Executive Education and Lifelong Learning Building.”
The planned campus is meant to serve 1,000 students with 200 full-time employees within the first five years of opening, according to the school’s development and conveyance agreement (DCA) with Palm Beach County.
Time is of the essence for the project’s fundraising. According to the DCA, Vanderbilt must begin construction within five years of the agreement’s approval. The university has a $10.2 billion endowment, the Vanderbilt Hustler reported in February, but the Trump administration’s threats to pull federal funding for higher education institutions loom large.
Ross, chairman of Related Ross and Palm Beach County’s most prolific developer, has campaigned to bring the university to West Palm Beach as part of his grand vision for the city’s future as an innovation hub and center of American commerce. Ross has sought to attract major institutions, like Wall Street and the Cleveland Clinic, to the city in his mission to build the new West Palm Beach. He also pledged $50 million to the Cleveland Clinic for its planned West Palm Beach campus, equating to 10 percent of its $500 million goal, according to published reports. His commitment to Vanderbilt represents 16.7 percent of the university’s total fundraising goal, with $223 million left to go.
Ross started fundraising for the school last year, hosting an event at his personal home in Palm Beach, Bloomberg reported at the time.
Ross has attempted to woo other elite educational institutions to Palm Beach County. He and other local business leaders have courted private schools from the Northeast, with the aim to open South Florida outposts. So far, none have taken the leap, and Ross is now planning to build a private school in West Palm Beach, himself.
