Stephen Ross Nears $700M Deal to Build West Palm Beach Offices
Ares, Monarch are providing the financing to add 1 million square feet to CityPlace
By Julia Echikson July 22, 2025 2:35 pm
reprints
Stephen Ross never stops.
The developer’s firm, Related Ross, is nearing a debt package deal for approximately $700 million to finance the construction of two office buildings in West Palm Beach, Fla., Commercial Observer has learned. Ares Management and Monarch Alternative Capital are providing the financing, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.
The transaction, which has yet to close, would tip Ross’s construction debt past $1 billion in West Palm Beach and be one of the largest financings in the region this year. In June, the billionaire developer secured a $600 million package to build a luxury 108-unit waterfront condo building, designed by RAMSA.
Representatives for Ares and Related Ross declined to comment, while a spokesperson for Monarch did not respond to a request for comment.
The upcoming financing — the details of which could still change — would fund two neighboring office buildings within Ross’s mixed-use CityPlace complex in Downtown West Palm Beach. The 26-story 15 CityPlace is set to total about 500,000 square feet and include about 20,000 square feet of retail, while the slightly smaller, 25-story 10 CityPlace will house 480,000 square feet.
Both developments broke ground in March. Health care provider Cleveland Clinic has already pre-leased 125,000 square feet at 15 CityPlace.
Last year, Ross stepped down from Related Companies, the real estate behemoth he founded in 1972. Since then, he has been on a mission to turn West Palm Beach into the Wall Street of the South.
The 360 Rosemary office building, which Ross completed in 2021, has attracted high-profile finance tenants, such as Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan Chase. Another office building, One Flagler, which was designed by the late David Childs, was completed this year.
Ross has also already successfully lobbied Vanderbilt University to open a $520 million graduate campus in West Palm Beach, though construction has yet to start.
Ares and Monarch are frequent partners. In April, they provided $413 million for PMG to build a two-tower residential project in Miami’s Brickell and, last year, $178 million to refinance another PMG residential building in Miami.
Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.
