Steve Ross is getting in on the private membership club trend with plans for a development in downtown West Palm Beach.
Related Ross is partnering with Leisure Resorts LLC, a subsidiary of Hartford, Connecticut-based Chase Enterprises, to build a four-story club on a city-owned parking lot next to the Palm Harbor Marina, the Palm Beach Post reported.
Leisure Resorts holds a long-term lease on the 1-acre site along the Intracoastal Waterway and operates the marina. The name of the planned club hasn’t been revealed.
The project would rise just south of the Waterview Towers condominium at North Flagler Drive and Second Street, across from the Ben hotel, which Related Ross is under contract to buy. It also sits near city-owned waterfront property leased to Elisabetta’s Ristorante and a University of Miami Health System clinic.
The lower two floors of the building would include retail space, with two ground-floor restaurants open to the public. The upper floors and rooftop would house a members-only club featuring amenities such as a rooftop pool, spa, fitness center and business center. There will be no hotel rooms, said Kenneth Himmel, president of Related Ross.
Plans cap the building at 75 feet, a height limit established in a 2023 settlement that ended a decade-long lawsuit between Leisure Resorts and Waterview Towers over marina and parking lot control.
Himmel said the club is designed to meet pent-up demand from Palm Beach and West Palm Beach residents shut out of long-established island clubs by long waitlists and steep initiation fees that can run into the hundreds of thousands — or more than $1 million at Mar-a-Lago.
Related Ross’ club is expected to have more than 500 members and aims to attract people of different ages and interests, including artists, musicians, athletes and families. Himmel described membership pricing as “affordable,” without providing details.The project adds to a growing private-club scene in West Palm Beach, fueled by an influx of wealthy transplants and a surge in business and residential development since the pandemic. Two other private clubs — Biba Social and the Bellini Rooftop Lounge — are also in the works downtown, adding to the options for the city’s increasingly affluent population. — Rachel Stone
