Steve Ross has expanded his presence in downtown West Palm Beach with the acquisition of the One Clearlake office tower for $55.4 million. The purchase was made through his firm, Related Ross, which is based in West Palm Beach. Records show that Related Ross bought the 18-story building at 250 South Australian Avenue from Bradford Allen Investment Advisors, a company based in Chicago. The deal included a $40 million loan from City National Bank of Florida.
One Clearlake was completed in 1987 and sits on a 2.9-acre lot. The building has about 221,700 square feet of office space and an attached four-story garage with 669 parking spaces. According to a spokesperson for Related Ross, around 20 percent of the building’s office space is currently available for lease.
The property’s tenants include Northwestern Mutual, Ideal Nutrition, RM Anderson Co., SouthState Loan Office, and Rubenstein Law.
This latest acquisition brings Related Ross’ total number of office properties in downtown West Palm to at least eleven when counting those purchased, developed, under construction or planned.
One Clearlake stands next to another property acquired by Related Ross earlier this year: the WPTV studio and office building at 1100 Banyan Boulevard. That two-story structure spans roughly 70,100 square feet and was purchased for $40 million in May. Together, these two sites give Related Ross control over about 7.6 contiguous acres along Clear Lake.
Any plans for redevelopment will have to wait since The E.W. Scripps Company—the parent company of WPTV—has leased back its building for at least two and a half more years.
This marks the second time One Clearlake has changed hands this year; Bradford Allen bought it in May for $45 million after it sold four years ago for nearly $61 million—a decrease of about 26 percent from its previous sale price.
Ross founded New York-based Related Companies over five decades ago before stepping back last year to establish Related Ross as a separate Southeast division focused mainly on downtown West Palm Beach and other areas within South Florida.
Related Ross recently finished construction on One Flagler—a new 25-story tower—and is developing additional projects including the planned towers at CityPlace and other sites nearby. In addition to offices, the firm also develops residential properties such as apartments and condos throughout downtown West Palm Beach; its portfolio includes CityPlace mixed-use complex completed by Related Companies in 2000.
Ross has played an active role in reshaping Palm Beach County by attracting financial firms through his connections in New York—supporting efforts to brand the area as “Wall Street South.” He has also discussed bringing technology companies into the region with hopes of creating what he called “Silicon Valley South.” Additionally, he supported Vanderbilt University’s proposal to open a campus locally.
Ross continues as nonexecutive chairman and remains the largest individual shareholder at Related Companies.
