Kolter Group paid $18.1 million for homesites at the Avenir master-planned community in Palm Beach Gardens.
The Delray Beach-based firm scooped up 144 single-family home lots, paying roughly $125,600 per lot, according to records and real estate database Vizzda.
The seller is Avenir Development, which ties to Coral Gables-based family-owned firm Landstar Development Group, the master developer of the entire 4,800-acre mixed-use community, records show.
Led by Bobby Julien, Kolter is a developer with several divisions — including land, homebuilding, hospitality and condominiums — and has made multiple plays in South Florida. In December, Kolter Urban, the firm’s condo arm, scored a $240 million construction loan to build the pair of 26-story Selene Oceanfront Residences. The project will have 194 units, combined, at 3000 Alhambra Street in Fort Lauderdale.
Kolter is the latest homebuilder to swoop in to claim a portion of Avenir. The community on the northwest corner of Northlake and Coconut boulevards has approvals for a 300-key hotel, 200,000 square feet for medical offices, 400,000 square feet for retail, and 3,900 residential units, primarily single-family homes. The project includes a 2,400-acre nature preserve.
In December, Sunrise-based GL Homes paid $35.3 million for 337 home lots at Avenir. PulteGroup, based in Atlanta, bought at least two development sites, paying $8 million for 80 home lots in October and $13.7 million for the 390-home Avondale at Avenir development site last year.
Avenir also has its own Community Development District, or a quasi-governmental entity that can sell bonds and collect special assessments to bankroll the construction of roads, sewers, sidewalks and other infrastructure. The CDD, which was formed a year after Palm Beach Gardens approved Avenir in 2016, allows massive projects to finance the infrastructure without having to rely on municipalities and counties.
In February, the Avenir CDD raised $79.7 million in bond financing to build the community’s infrastructure.
Avenir is at least the second master-planned community underway in Palm Beach County. The 1,200-acre Arden, on the northeast corner of Southern Boulevard and the L-8 Canal, has approval for more than 2,300 homes. It’s dubbed an “agri-hood” development for offering residents a 5-acre farm where they can grow and harvest fruits, vegetables and herbs.