Steve and Alex Witkoff.
Steve Witkoff and Alex Witkoff
Co-CEOs at Witkoff Group
Witkoff Group has the distinction of securing the largest construction loan in Florida in 2023 — in the middle of one of the worst lending markets since the Great Recession.
The Manhattan-based company landed $430 million in financing for the redevelopment of the Shore Club Miami Beach, which will see the restoration of the historic 75-key hotel and a new condo tower designed by Robert A.M. Stern with 49 luxury units. When the deal closed in July, more than half the units were sold at a sellout of roughly $550 million, according to Alex Witkoff, who runs the company with his father Steve Witkoff.
That’s not all. Another project in Witkoff’s pipeline is the Shell Bay Club in Hallandale Beach, a golf-focused community with a residential component, as well as a boutique resort and club to go along with the Greg Norman-designed 18-hole golf course. Which can all be yours for a one-time initiation fee of $1 million. Yep, you heard that right.
The club opened in October of 2023, while the residential tower is under construction. “It’s very rare to get 150 acres to build a golf-focused community,” said Alex Witkoff. “It’s virtually impossible to re-create.”
It may be rare, but Witkoff has struck that particular mother lode twice. In the final quarter of 2023, Witkoff acquired the long-struggling Banyan Cay Resort & Golf Club in West Palm Beach from its lender, Calmwater Capital, which had foreclosed on the 170-acre property. Witkoff acquired the property for the price of the loan, or $75 million. Quite a steal for a property of that size, location and quality.
The site includes a hotel and an 18-hole, 130-acre Jack Nicklaus signature golf course that’s been closed since August because of the bankruptcy. “We’re renovating the golf course, a gut renovation, to restore it to a very high level,” said the younger Witkoff.
The developer also plans to add 22 villas, a condo building and single-family lots. Its proximity to Palm Beach island, one of the wealthiest enclaves in the United States, is certainly a boon. The only question is: What will the initiation fee be?
