Jeff Greene Buys 21-Acre Parcel

Aaron Drive Holdings, a company managed by developer and former Florida U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Greene, paid $6.76 million for a 21.49-acre multifamily parcel in West Palm Beach on April 11.

The seller of the parcel at 715 Hank Aaron Drive was an affiliate of failed BankFirst of SouthDakota. The bank took title to the land in August 2009 after winning a $44.8 million foreclosure judgment against Hallandale Beach-based developer SWP Palm Beach.

SWP had approvals to build 620 condominiums, 57 townhouses and 20,000 square feet of retail space, but construction never began.

BankFirst hired Reese Stigliano, a principal at Fort Lauderdale-based Berger Commercial Realty, to market the parcel in July 2010, he said. The land was initially listed for $15 million, then reduced to $10 million in December 2010. “We had a lot of [investors] kicking the tires at $15 million, which at the time was the appraised value,” Stigliano said. “Towards the end of the year, the property was re-appraised at $10 million. The [final sale price] was the product of negotiation.”

Aaron Drive Holdings, based in the town of Palm Beach, paid cash, allowing the company to close in less than a month. “In this kind of sale, typically the buyer won’t close until site plan approval is in place,” he said. “This site had extended entitlements, which was one of the main reasons they bought it.”

Development plans and a timetable for construction have not been determined by Greene, Stigliano said.

Aaron Drive Holdings “bought [the site] at an extremely low price,” he said. “They can either sit and land bank it or decide to build something more economically feasible” than condominiums.

Stigliano was assisted by Berger associate Gordon Lunt.