Billionaire Greene gets large loan, adds property

Billionaire developer Jeff Greene has had a busy week obtaining a large construction loan and picking up another potential development site in West Palm Beach, The Real Deal has learned.

A company tied to Greene called Aaron Drive Holdings received a $60 million mortgage from Bank of America last Friday, according to Palm Beach County records. The loan is for a large mixed-use project Greene is developing on Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard. He has City of West Palm Beach approval to build as many as 600 residential units on the 21.5-acre site.

Yesterday, three companies tied to Greene completed the $15 million purchase of 3.3 acres at 550 North Quadrille Boulevard. The companies acquired the land from Paramus, N.J.-based WREC Quadrille, a partnership that includes Vornado Realty Trust. WREC paid $3.2 million for the downtown property in 2005 and at one time had approvals to build a 323-unit condo project.

Bank of America also provided Greene’s companies with a $7.5 million loan for the 550 North Quadrille purchase.

A former U.S. Senate candidate, Greene has focused in recent years on assembling a large portfolio in Palm Beach County. Many of Greene’s purchases have involved distressed properties or sites that were abandoned after the real estate market collapsed. His acquisition spree started in 2011, when a Greene company paid $3.7 million for the historic Palm Beach Post Office building.