Jeff Greene Gives West Palm Beach Land to Vanderbilt

Billionaire developer Jeff Greene and his wife Mei Sze Greene are donating 1.3 acres of land valued at $80 million to Vanderbilt University’s downtown West Palm Beach campus.

The gift adds to the 7 acre site donated by the City of West Palm Beach and Palm Beach County in 2024, the Palm Beach Post reported. Vanderbilt Chancellor Daniel Diermeier said the additional land will reshape the project’s design and allow for a “cohesive campus, where classrooms, labs and community spaces come together seamlessly,” he said in a statement to the outlet.

The Nashville-based school, known as “the Harvard of the South,” is ranked as the #17 university nationally by U.S. News and World Report. The planned West Palm Beach campus will offer graduate programs in business and technology, and is slated to serve 1,000 students and at least 200 employees, according to the university’s development and conveyance agreement with Palm Beach County. Construction is expected to cost $520 million.

After receiving its first approvals for the campus, Vanderbilt launched a $300 million fundraising campaign last year. In January, the school announced plans to move forward with construction and a second phase of fundraising with a $250 million goal.

Greene previously agreed to donate 5 acres of downtown West Palm Beach land to a proposed University of Florida campus, but that deal, and the university’s expansion, fell apart after a spat over naming agreements.

His gift marks the latest contribution to the Vanderbilt campus from the real estate industry, which has ardently supported the university’s expansion to West Palm Beach since it was first proposed in 2024.

Billionaire Related Ross chairman Steve Ross committed $50 million to the campus, and has hosted fundraisers for the university’s expansion efforts. Frisbie Group’s Cody Crowell, a Vanderbilt alumnus, donated $5 million to the school and has publicly advocated for the campus.

–– Kate Hinsche