Bessemer Trust sells Palm Beach building for $19M, opting for newer digs 

Bessemer Trust sold a Palm Beach office building for $18.7 million to a mystery buyer. 

New York-based Bessemer, a private wealth management firm, sold the two-story, 11,700-square-foot office building at 222 Royal Palm Way, according to records and real estate database Vizzda. The buying entity, 222 RPW LLC, ties to Gunster attorney Bradley McPherson. 

McPherson, a representative for the buyer, said the buyer is “pretty intent on confidentiality.”

Bessemer bought the 0.4-acre development site in 1988 for $1.4 million and completed the building in 1989, records show. 

Led by CEO Marc D. Stern, Bessemer had used the building as its office. It now has its Palm Beach County office at CityPlace Tower at 525 Okeechobee Boulevard in West Palm Beach, according to the firm’s website. Bessemer also preleased an office at the One Flagler tower that’s under construction at the foot of the Royal Park Bridge in West Palm Beach. 

Billionaire Steve Ross’ Related Ross owns the 18-story CityPlace Tower, which was built in 2008, and is developing the 25-story One Flagler. This summer, Ross stepped back from New York-based Related Companies, which he founded 52 years ago, to fully commit to his South Florida investments. 

Ross carved out Related Companies’ Related Southeast division, which oversees the South Florida assets, and rebranded it as Related Ross. 

While Ross focuses on West Palm Beach, Palm Beach has grabbed the attention of another billionaire. Ken Griffin paid $83 million for the nearly 50,000-square-foot building at 125 Worth Avenue last year. 

An entity tied to Griffin also owns the adjacent three-story commercial building at 151 Worth Avenue, records show. 

Generally, South Florida office investment sales activity has been quiet this year due to elevated interest rates, skyrocketing property insurance premiums and uncertainty over the office market’s future. In the biggest sale this year, Prime US REIT, publicly traded on the Singapore Exchange, sold the 10-story One Town Center at 1 Town Center Road in Boca Raton last month for $82 million. The deal marked a 17.6 percent discount from the REIT’s purchase price three years ago.