A transportation hub in downtown West Palm Beach is one step closer to being built following the settlement of a long-running lawsuit between a private investor group and Palm Beach County.
This means that the Transit Village investment groupsoon could take control of 6 acres of valuable county-owned land.
The price yet isn't known, but fresh appraisals of the land will be required before any sale.
In 2012, the investors behind the Transit Village plan struck a deal to buy the land from the county for $3.6 million, or about $600,000 per acre.
After years of effort to obtain zoning approval, Transit Village was hoping to close on the property at the $3.6 million purchase price in 2023 and start construction that year.
Then came the county's demand
for more money, according to a lawsuit Transit Village filed against Palm Beach County.
The county, on the other hand, insisted Transit Village pay fair market value for the taxpayer-owned land, a point it said was envisioned in the original contract. A county appraisal performed this year pegged the land's value at $42 million.
Transit Village didn't agree, and it sued Palm Beach County in 2024. Since then, litigation has kept the land's sale stuck in legal limbo.
But arbitrator Jeffrey Colbath helped break the logjam when he decided on July 5 that a current market appraisal must be obtained for the property. This decision then was adopted on July 31 by Palm Beach County Circuit Court Judge Glenn Kelley.
With the dispute now resolved, both sides must arrange for a closing, with the property's fair market value determined by appraisals performed within six months of the property's sales date.
County attorney David Ottey hailed the arbitrator's decision because it requires a fresh appraisal of the valuable downtown land.
"This protected the taxpayers," Ottey said on Aug. 3. "That's the crux of the lawsuit, that the developers didn't get off paying $3.6 million for property worth significantly more."
A lawyer for Transit Village also praised the lawsuit's resolution, which ends an uncertain future for the investment group and the transportation hub.
"Transit Village is 100% committed to moving forward with this transformative project," said John Shubin, a West Palm Beach attorney. "This is a big win for the county and its residents."
What is Transit Village?
The Transit Village project would feature nearly 1,000 apartments, including workforce housing, in three high-rise towers. A fourth tower would have hotel rooms and office space. A 275-space parking garage also is planned.
The Transit Village site is south of Banyan Boulevard, between Clearwater Drive and the CSX railroad tracks running parallel to Tamarind Avenue. The property was acquired by the county years ago, with help from the Federal Transportation Administration.
The goal is to boost public transportation by having people either live or work near a hub for boarding trains in downtown West Palm Beach, switching from different bus routes, or between buses and Tri-Rail, Greyhound or Amtrak.
Transit Village has taken on added importance with the explosion of growth in West Palm Beach during the past few years, especially the relocation of businesses and residents to the city in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The land for the Transit Village project sits in a prime spot. It is near CityPlace, a planned Cleveland Clinic hospital, a planned Vanderbilt University graduate business school campus and planned or completed condominiums.
The Transit Village investment group consists of BH Palm Beach Real Estate Acquisitions, an affiliate of BH Group of Miami, court records said. BH Group is a Miami-based private equity and real estate investment firm.
Other investors are Miami-based Related Group, a prolific developer building the Ritz Carlton Residences with BH Group in West Palm Beach; Globe Invest Limited; and investor Michael Masanoff, who first put the deal together.
Related Group is not affiliated with Related Ross, a major developer in West Palm Beach led by Miami Dolphins owner and Palm Beach resident Stephen Ross, or his former entity, Related Cos. of New York.
Transit village investors, feuded over land's price, value
Transit Village filed a lawsuit against the county in 2024 over the property's delayed sale and its demand that the purchase price remain $3.6 million.
That same year, the county filed a countersuit.
In its lawsuit, the county needed to pay back $3 million in grants to the Federal Transit Administration, which gave the county money buy the downtown property in 1992. The county said it also needed to pay the FTA 71% of the property's current market value as per the contract, according to court records.
Ottey said the lawsuit's conclusion means that the county will not be on the hook for the 71%.
It's still not clear if the FTA will require that 71%, Ottey said, but if it does, Transit Village, and not taxpayers, will have to pay.
The next step, Shubin said, is for both sides to obtain new land appraisals and set a closing date.
Alexandra Clough is a business writer at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at aclough@pbpost.com. X: @acloughpbp. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Transit Village, Palm Beach County settle lawsuit | Exclusive
