Pulte plans 145 homes in Palm Beach County amid single-family development surge

A land bank bought a 96.4-acre development site near Wellington for $31.9 million, where PulteGroup plans to build 145 single-family homes. 

In two deals, New York-based TPG Angelo Gordon, through its Essential Housing Asset Management land bank, bought land at 7501 South State Road 7 and 7302 Park Lane Road in unincorporated Palm Beach County, according to records. Atlanta-based Pulte signed a purchase option agreement to buy the property from Essential Housing Asset Management.

In the bigger of the two purchases, Essential Housing Asset Management paid $20.8 million for the 56.4-acre agricultural site at 7501 South State Road 7. An entity managed by Thomas and Nancy Yee is the seller, records show. 

For the smaller purchase, Essential Housing bought the 40-acre equestrian site at 7302 Park Lane Road for $11.1 million from Cypress Polo Club, an equestrian center owned by Martin Estrada. 

Pulte’s DiVosta Homes division will develop a maximum of 145 homes, with 20 percent of the site having lots spanning at least a half acre, records show. 

Prices at the community, called Amara, will start at just over $1 million, according to DiVosta’s website. 

Led by Ryan Marshall, Pulte has made hefty bets on South Florida’s residential market, scooping up development sites across the tri-county region. 

Last month, the homebuilder paid $22 million for 36.5 acres at 9584 Lake Worth Road in unincorporated Palm Beach County, near Lake Worth Beach, with plans for 108 single-family homes. The deal came on the heels of Pulte’s $20.5 million purchase of a nearly 31-acre site at  8220-8260 Southwest 48th Court and 4891 and 5077 Southwest 82nd Avenue in Davie, with plans for 60 single-family homes. 

Pulte’s DiVosta also plans Greyhawk Landing with 131 single-family homes on 43.6 acres west of Lyons Road and about a block south of Hypoluxo Road in an unincorporated area of west Palm Beach County. In December, Pulte bought the site for $30.3 million. 

Homebuilders generally use land banks to purchase development sites as a way to keep the properties off their balance sheets until they are ready to sell homes. Miami-based homebuilder Lennar has often relied on the structure. In March, New York-based land banking firm Jen Partners dropped $19.6 million for 19.3 acres of land on the southeast corner of Southwest 240th Street and Southwest 127th Avenue in unincorporated Miami-Dade County. Lennar has a purchase option agreement and is expected to develop single-family homes on the site.