Tiger Woods, Justin Timberlake Back 600-Acre Palm Beach County Project
An international hospitality and real estate company backed by investors including Tiger Woods and Justin Timberlake has struck a deal to develop a multibillion-dollar, 600-acre community around a renovated golf course and expanded equestrian showgrounds in Palm Beach County, Florida.
Nexus Luxury Collection — a celebrity-backed development group that counts Woods, Timberlake and golf great Ernie Els and British private equity billionaire Joe Lewis of Tavistock Group as partners — is joining with local landowner Mark Bellissimo to renovate Cypress Golf Course and the Wellington International equestrian showgrounds as part of the massive development that is expected to kick off this year.
The 600-acre project is being developed by an entity called Wellington Lifestyle Partners, which is a joint venture of Nexus, former eBay executive Jeff Skoll and Bellissimo, who has spent the last 18 years acquiring the land for the project, according to a press release.
“We are highly selective in where we choose to go to curate a complementary suite of experiences for our customers. Partnering and co-investing with Mark to create The Wellington is a perfect fit for NEXUS as we expand into the important South Florida marketplace,” Nexus CEO and Managing Partner Christopher Anand said in a statement. “We are excited to build something special on the land Mark has painstakingly pulled together over the last 18 years.”
The project, to be called The Wellington, will need to be approved by the Village of Wellington and the developer told Bloomberg that it expects some pushback from local residents because of the project’s size.
The Wellington is expected to add more than 400 residences to the area surrounding the golf course, which the developers recently acquired and expect to quickly begin renovating, according to the release. The Wellington International equestrian showgrounds would also be expanded to nearly double its current footprint.
A spokesperson for Nexus told Bisnow the developer plans to spend over $100M on amenities alone to serve the development, including a 120K SF indoor fitness center, a 16-acre park, a stadium tennis court and four swimming pools. Completed condos and single-family homes will start around $4M with sites for custom homes on quarter-acre lots starting at $3M, Bloomberg reported.
In addition to the amenities and upgrades to the golf course and equestrian center, the expansive development will include a 17-acre commercial center with shops, office space and restaurants.
Tavistock and Nexus executive Douglas McMahon has been named managing partner of Wellington Lifestyle Partners, while Paige Bellissimo, Michael Bellissimo’s daughter, is managing the development process, according to the release.
McMahon said in a statement that Wellington Lifestyle Partners plans to work closely with the Village of Wellington to “create an extraordinary multi-generational community that adds to the greater Village of Wellington.”
The development announcement comes as golf’s popularity continues to grow. The sport surged in popularity during the pandemic, with around 6.2 million people taking up the game for the first time in 2020 and 2021, according to the National Golf Foundation. Interest also remained strong in 2022, with a net increase of 500,000 golfers bringing the total number of people playing the sport in the U.S. to 25.6 million.
