Billionaire real estate developer Stephen Ross has launched a 10,000-square-foot immersive Experience Center in downtown West Palm Beach, FL, showcasing his vision for transforming the area into the “Wall Street of the South.”
Ross’ firm, Related Ross, along with fellow billionaire Ken Griffin, will invest more than $10 billion across Palm Beach County to attract global companies and talent to South Florida. Ross, the chairman of Related Companies, built his career in New York City, where he spearheaded the massive Hudson Yards development.
The billionaire, who also owns the Miami Dolphins, has planned developments that are expected to add more than 6 million square feet of office space, 1.4 million square feet of condos, 700,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, and 870 hotel rooms across 70 acres in West Palm.
All will be accessible by Brightline, South Florida’s high speed rail system connecting Miami and Orlando.
Ross’ boutique, luxury waterfront condominium, Shorecrest, has already broken ground. While developers typically open a sales office with life-scale models of condos, Jordan Rathlev, an executive vice president at Related Ross who leads the firm’s mixed-use real estate acquisition and development, tells Realtor.com® that the Experience Center goes even further.
The center is an “immersive storytelling destination” that uses virtual reality, interactive exhibits, and large-scale architectural models to allow potential condo buyers, entrepreneurs seeking office space, as well as the general public to intensely experience the future of Ross’ vision.
A giant screen with a virtual replica of the development will allow visitors to feel they are practically inside of the future West Palm downtown area.
Bryan Cho, an executive vice president at Related Ross, had previously described the development to Realtor.com as “a complete ecosystem, from world-class office and residential to culture, retail, and infrastructure, that can attract top companies and talent.”
“You can walk through it or fly through it,” says Rathlev of the digital replica. “Think of Google Maps 3D on steroids.”
Visitors can also wear virtual reality goggles to simulate the feeling of strolling through Shorecrest, the development’s ultraluxury condo building with 98 two- and three-bedroom residences, each offering uninterrupted Intracoastal water views. Several other luxury residential developments, including Edgeworth and South Flagler House, will also be viewable via virtual reality.
Those wearing the goggles or viewing the digital screen can pull up various highlights of the future West Palm ecosystem, including the evolving 72-acre mixed-use CityPlace and Flagler Waterfront, as well as planned developments such as the Cleveland Clinic campus and Vanderbilt University’s graduate campus.
CityPlace—a collaboration between Related Ross and the city of West Palm Beach—dates back to 1997. But, in past decade, it’s been reimagined to include a hotel, convention center, and more commercial and residential spaces.
Rathlev says the Experience Center won’t be so much a sales or marketing office but a “community gathering space,” that will host community-led events and thought leadership conferences.
“If you’re coming as a prospective tenant or buyer, we can answer all your questions,” he says. “But [the center] also allows people from the community to tell their stories, so it’s more of a collaborative space.”
For those interested in snapping up a Shorecrest luxury condo, goggles may not be enough. Rathlev says potential buyers can walk through full-scale models of apartments, allowing them a deeper sensory experience.
Why West Palm Beach?
The center is part of the massive, multibillion-dollar push—spearheaded by Ross and Griffin—to turn Florida’s Gold Coast, spanning West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami—into a sunnier version of Wall Street.
Businesses such as Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, and BlackRock have been rushing to open offices in the area, taking advantage of its low corporate taxes and zero personal income taxes.
“The goal [of the center] is to bring awareness to what a great place South Florida and, in particular, Palm Beach County is, to live and work and do business,” says Rathlev.
But Rathlev claims it isn’t even the pro-business atmosphere that ultimately lures the “decision makers”—it’s the state’s ability to attract and retain talent.
“There is no question people love the lifestyle that South Florida offers,” he says.
He ticks off mild weather, the beach, outdoor activities, golf, and the plethora of food and entertainment options as key attributes of the area, along with the connectivity of the Brightline high speed train.
People “may have come historically to visit their grandparents or go to Disney,” he says. “But now you see these great public spaces, and the great art and cultural events. It’s not just what you saw in the past.”
“And people want to go where the jobs are.”
