Billionaire Steve Ross is taking it back to his affordable housing roots as his firm launched a mixed-income multifamily division starting with a 164-unit project for downtown West Palm Beach.
Related Ross is planning Sapodilla, a seven-story, 120,000-square-foot complex that will also feature a three-story parking garage at the southwest corner of Sapodilla Avenue and 2nd Street, the Palm Beach Post reported. The project will be the first under Related Ross’ new mixed-income housing division helmed by the firm’s new hire Jordan Davis, a former affordable housing executive with Miami-based Related Group.
Related Ross will set aside 66 units at Sapodilla for residents currently living at Ballet Village, a nearby low-income complex at 430 South Mary Avenue that the firm acquired in 2022 for $16 million. Related Ross plans to eventually redevelop the Ballet Village block as part of a broader push to bring housing options to West Palm’s underserved neighborhoods.
The Sapodilla project comes as soaring rents price out local workers. The average apartment in West Palm Beach rents for nearly $2,400 a month, according to RentCafe. In Palm Beach County, affordable housing typically serves households earning 80 percent or less of the area median income, with rents capped through government subsidies. The AMI in Palm Beach County is $104,000 annually.
West Palm Beach’s design review committee is scheduled to vote on Sapodilla’s site plan Thursday. Related Ross plans to start construction this year and complete the project by 2028.
Related Ross is already the most dominant landlord and developer in West Palm Beach with a slate of luxury residential, office and mixed-use projects on deck. Last year, the firm finished the 25-story One Flagler office tower near the Intracoastal, and it recently landed a $157 million construction loan for Shorecrest, Related Ross’s second condo project in West Palm Beach. It also owns several downtown office buildings, including CityPlace Tower, Esperanté Corporate Center and Phillips Point.
Related Ross recently bought 27 units at Southbridge Condominium, a 1980s West Palm Beach waterfront condo, for a combined $25.4 million, giving the firm a majority control of the building. Related Ross also bought two units in another older waterfront building, Harbor Towers & Marina Condo at 3901 South Flagler Drive, for $4.5 million.
— Francisco Alvarado
