Steve Ross’ Related, Frisbie propose 190-unit condo project on West Palm church site

Steve Ross’ Related Companies and a partner propose a pair of condo towers with a total of 190 units on a church site near downtown West Palm Beach. 

New York-based Related and Palm Beach-based Frisbie Group want to build a 28-story building and a 32-story tower on the Family Church property at 1101 South Flagler Drive, while preserving the main worship hall and rebuilding other portions of the campus, according to the developers’ and the church’s filings to the city. 

Family Church, founded in 1901 as the First Baptist Church of West Palm Beach, owns the 9.8-acre site, city and property records show. The property is west of The Bristol and Trianon condo buildings, and north of Related’s 28-story South Flagler House condo project that’s under construction at 1355 South Flagler Drive. 

Ross, owner of the Miami Dolphins and Hard Rock Stadium, has become a king of West Palm Beach real estate, with the latest condo proposal marking an expansion of his empire.  

Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, the project would include a five-story garage with a rooftop amenity deck, and a 5,400-square-foot ground-floor restaurant fronting Flagler Drive. Condos would range from one-bedroom units to five-bedroom penthouses, though most would be two-bedroom and three-bedroom condos. 

The preserved worship hall and new church assembly space would total 1,400 seats, and a new 116,200-square-foot private K-8 school would have space for 350 students, the application shows. An existing private school on the site has a 250-student capacity.  

Previous

Next

The project is expected to be completed in 2029, according to a traffic impacts analysis filed with the application. 

Family Church, led by pastor Jimmy Scroggins, selected Related and Frisbie to redevelop the campus in 2022, according to the South Florida Business Journal. Frisbie is led by Dave, Rick and Robert Frisbie Sr.

Ross first set his sights on West Palm in 2000 with the development of the 72-acre mixed-use CityPlace. In recent years, the complex was renamed Rosemary Square and most recently it was rechristened The Square. 

Amid the influx of businesses to West Palm Beach in the past four years, Ross made a hefty bet on downtown West Palm offices. Related has eight office towers in the neighborhood, either developed, purchased or under construction. 

Among them are the 25-story One Flagler tower at the foot of the Royal Park Bridge, which is under construction, as well as the planned 25-story 515 Fern on the northwest corner of Fern Street and the Florida East Coast Railway tracks, and a pair of towers at The Square. 

Related’s residential projects include the two-tower South Flagler House, designed by Robert A. M. Stern Architects. Sales of the 108 condos launched in November, with prices ranging from $5.9 million to $72.5 million for penthouses. 

The firm also is developing the 21-story, 322-unit The Laurel apartment tower at  635 Hibiscus Street, and launched leasing in March. The tower offers one-bedroom to three-bedroom apartments, ranging from 636 square feet to 1,825 square feet, with rents starting at $3,400 a month. 

Last month, Related also won a bid to build West Palm’s new convention center hotel. The firm plans a 20-story, 404-key Hilton Signia at 900 South Rosemary Avenue. 

The Family Church project is the latest in a string of South Florida church site redevelopments. 

Related’s One Flagler office project is rising next to First Church of Christ, Scientist, which will remain open. In Miami, the Ardid family’s Key International wants to build a 42-story, 462-unit apartment tower next to Trinity Episcopal Cathedral at 464 Northeast 16th Street and 515 Northeast 15th Street. The development site was home to a parish hall annex and diocese offices, which were demolished last year, though the historic cathedral will remain open. 

Read more

South Florida

Steve Ross’ Related scoops up affordable rental complex in Miramar for $48M

South Florida

Explosion, fire at Related’s Casamar sales gallery

South Florida

Two Roads, Frisbie settle lawsuit over waterfront West Palm condo project