Related Ross Lands $173M Financing to Buy the Ben Hotel in West Palm Beach

Related Ross has acquired a luxury West Palm Beach, Fla., hotel using a $172.5 million loan from Nomura, according to Newmark.

The 208-room hotel just off North Flagler Drive at 251 North Narcissus Avenue is known as the Ben. It was completed in February 2020 and is operating as part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection, Newmark announced after arranging the financing.

The seller was Wheelock Street Capital.

Newmark’s Jordan Roeschlaub, Nick Scribani, John Caraviello, Tyler Dumon and Tate Keir negotiated the financing on behalf of Related Ross.

“This acquisition reflects our long-term commitment to West Palm Beach and our belief in hospitality as a cornerstone of a thriving, livable city,” Kenneth Himmel, president of Related Ross. “The Ben sits in a special position along the waterfront, and we see it as an important asset not only for visitors, but for the broader community and regional economy.”

The sale price was not disclosed, but Bloomberg reported in November that Stephen Ross’s firm had agreed to somewhere in the neighborhood of $190 million, touching on the possibility of the firm developing another 400-room Curio Collection hotel in the vicinity.

This complex transaction – which includes a future-funded renovation component as well as placing mezzanine debt – highlights the capabilities of our experienced team and underscores Nomura’s conviction in Related Ross’ long-term strategic vision for the future of West Palm Beach,” a Nomura spokesperson said in a statement. “As we continue to expand our U.S. CRE platform, this mandate demonstrates our ability to partner with institutional real estate clients to deliver complex financing solutions in support of their highest-conviction CRE investments.”

Wheelock Street Capital bought the 435,000-square-foot waterfront property overlooking Lake Worth Lagoon in 2021 after Concord Hospitality finished the project as part of the greater Flagler Banyan Square redevelopment.

Wheelock did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last week, Ross also finalized a $145 million refinancing deal for Esperanté Corporate Center, an older office building in Downtown West Palm Beach, from Hudson Bay Capital Management.

A week before that, ​​Related Ross announced a $157 million loan from Steve Tananbaum’s GoldenTree Asset Management to build a waterfront luxury condo development at 1865 North Flagler Drive, also in West Palm Beach. That project is 1.1 miles north of the newly acquired Ben hotel.

Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.