Wellington narrowly approved zoning changes that would allow former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and Mike Meldman’s Discovery Land Company to transform a polo field into a mixed-use project with homes, an equestrian complex and private club.
On Monday, the village council voted 3 to 2 on first reading to move the Isla Carroll Polo and Residences development forward.
Mayor Michael Napoloeone cautioned that the plans need extensive changes if the developers hope to secure approval for second and final reading in February — despite assurances that the development’s polo field would be used by the United States Polo Association.
“In the interest of preserving the [polo] field I am giving you another shot, but I don’t know how you are going to get there unless there are fundamental changes,” said Napoleone, who voted yes along with Vice Mayor Tanya Siskin and Councilman John McGovern. Councilwoman Maria S. Antuna and Councilwoman Amanda Silvestri voted no.
New York-based McCourt Partners and Scottsdale, Arizona-based Discover Land Company want to redevelop the 79.2-acre former East Isla Caroll at 3665 120th Avenue South in polo-centric Wellington into a development that would include an equestrian complex with a polo field and a private club with a polo observation deck, restaurants, a spa, racquet sports, gym, and polo training simulators.
The rezoning portion of the developers’ request centered on being able to build 40 single-family homes on lots averaging a half acre. Under the property’s present zoning, those 40 houses must be built on lots that are two acres each, large enough for an owner to construct a home with a horse stable, in keeping with Wellington’s equestrian preservation zone.
McCourt, who said he traveled from Cairo, Egypt to speak at the meeting, told council members that he wanted to make sure his development benefited the sport of polo. He did not want it to become “another soulless subdivision.”
“We have gone to great lengths to comply with your code and not ask for a single thing we are not entitled to,” McCourt said. “This is a project we’re extremely proud of and we have a lot of people supporting it.”
McCourt’s attorney Neil Schiller said the project has 120 letters of support and the backing of Wellington’s planning staff. Among those speaking in favor was Stewart Armstrong, chairman of the USPA, who confirmed the organization has an agreement to lease the property for $1 a year, as well as the $250,000 a year cost of maintaining the field, at 10-year increments for up to 45 years.
“That is like FAU [Florida Atlantic University] having a deal with the NFL to have games and programming at their stadium [in Boca Raton],” Schiller said.
The USPA won’t have to travel far since the neighboring National Polo Center is already used by the professional polo association. Schiller argued that not having a polo-oriented private club would be a missed opportunity. Discovery Land Company partner Ed Davitas said that the development, designed by New York-Buenos Aires architecture firm Estudio Ramos, would center around learning and watching polo.
Critics of the project countered that the 24-stall barn would be demolished, only one of the site’s two polo fields would be preserved, and that there were no facilities for horses to stay overnight on site. They also feared that the project could go the way of 23 other polo fields in Wellington and end up being replaced with more residential development should the arrangement between the developers and USPA fall apart. Schiller countered that a covenant would require that any further land use changes would have to be unanimously backed by the council if this deal is approved.
McGovern told Schiller that if this vote was for final approval, he would have voted against. He hopes McCourt and Discovery come back with a plan that’s more than just a “polo field and a country club.”
One way to do that was to craft a site plan where there were “five farms plus homes,” McGovern added.
A company tied to McCourt paid $52 million for East Isla Carroll in 2022, about a decade after McCourt sold the Dodgers baseball team for $2.2 billion.
This wasn’t McCourt’s first transaction in Wellington. He sold a 5.2-acre equestrian property at 13808 Fairlane Court for nearly $12 million in 2016 and a 9-acre equestrian property for $12 million in Mallet Hill that was a short walk away from Microsoft founder Bill Gates’ assemblage. (Gates’ daughter, Jennifer Gates, is an equestrian.)
Discover Land Company, a luxury community developer, teamed up with Becker Holding Company to build Atlantic Fields, a 1,500-acre development in Hobe Sound in Martin County with 317 single-family homes and a golf course.
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