K. Hovnanian Homes will develop 100 single-family homes at Brian Tuttle’s Royal Palm Beach mixed-use project.
The Matawan, New Jersey-based homebuilder has a purchase option agreement for the homesites with TPG Angelo Gordon’s Essential Housing Asset Management land bank, according to a statement from Jon Isherwood, K. Hovnanian’s Southeast Florida division president.
The development site is within the 200-acre Tuttle Royale project on the southwest corner of Southern Boulevard and U.S. 441.
Essential Housing Asset Management recently bought the homesites from Tuttle, who is Tuttle Royale’s master developer.
Isherwood said in a statement that the price is $19 million. Tuttle countered that it’s $23 million, inclusive of considerations such as offsite improvements and payouts that he will receive in the sale of each completed home.
K. Hovnanian will develop one- and two-story homes, ranging from 2,000 square feet to 3,700 square feet, Isherwood said in his statement. Sales are expected to launch next fall, with prices yet to be determined.
Led by CEO Ara K. Hovnanian, the family owned firm is a frequent home developer in South Florida, including at the nearly 5,000-acre Avenir master-planned community in Palm Beach Gardens.
For two decades, Tuttle carved out a career of assembling and entitling land in Florida and then selling it to other developers. The business is risky, leading Tuttle to plan to develop Tuttle Royale on his own after assembling the tract in pieces since 2013.
Over the past few years, Tuttle has sold portions of Tuttle Royale, saying the entire project is too big of an endeavor for one developer. That’s also why he chose to sell the 100 homesites, Tuttle said.
Tuttle Royale has also faced financial woes, including a foreclosure suit filed in July tied to $38.4 million in loans for the Main Street portion of the project. Main Street will consist of a 400-unit apartment complex and 700,000 square feet of commercial space that will offer entertainment that changes seasonally.
“I have signed a letter of intent with a $4 billion equity partner to build Main Street, and I don’t have the time for both” Main Street and the 100 single-family homes, Tuttle said.
The equity agreement also will resolve the foreclosure filing on the Main Street loan, he said, adding that the partner’s name will be disclosed next year.
In 2019, the Pérez family’s Related Group completed a 392-unit apartment complex at Tuttle Royale. Related sold the complex to Pantzer Properties in 2021 for $119.4 million.
Last year, Tuttle and Lynd started developing a 401-unit rental complex at Tuttle Royale. In March, the Fanjul family’s FCI Residential landed a $55.7 million construction loan for a 320-unit complex at the master-planned project.
Tuttle Royale’s master plan also calls for a 1,500-student charter school. Index Investment Group took control of this development site in 2022 after providing a $28 million loan to Tuttle, allowing him to avoid a foreclosure auction on a portion of Tuttle Royale.
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Residential
South Florida
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