Steve Ross’ Related Ross bought the massive Boca Raton Innovation Campus, expanding the billionaire developer’s reach into another pocket of Palm Beach County.
The 124-acre former IBM headquarters comes with developer entitlements for a “micro-city.”
The value of the sale hasn’t been made public. Ares Commercial Real Estate Services provided a loan for the acquisition, according to a news release, but the amount wasn’t disclosed.
The seller, an entity linked to Boca Raton-based CP Group, paid $320.2 million in 2021 for the campus, known as BRiC, property records show.
Related plans to maintain the enormous office and tech building while adding retail and amenities. Computing company D-Wave Quantum plans to move its headquarters from Palo Alto to the Boca campus by the end of the year, The Real Deal reported in January.
The 86-year-old billionaire developer Steve Ross is among the power players who envision South Florida as a tech and financial hub.
“We see BRiC playing an important role in that next chapter,” Jordan Bargas, executive vice president at Related Ross, said in an email.
CP Group secured zoning approval in 2023 for up to 1,243 residential units, a 140-room hotel, 125,000 square feet of retail, 85,000 square feet of medical offices and a 55,000-square-foot entertainment venue.
The 1.7 million-square-foot building at 5000 T Rex Avenue was constructed in 1969 as an IBM research space. It’s located between Yamato Road and Interstate 95, next to Boca’s Tri-Rail train station.
IBM notably invented its first personal computer at the campus. Hungarian architect Marcel Breuer designed the brutalist exterior.
Rumors that Related Ross was eyeing the campus emerged this summer. It’s Ross’ first venture into Boca, adding to major holdings in West Palm Beach and Wellington.
Ross in August paid $28.3 million for 31 acres of Wellington farmland as part of its Village Landing project, a mixed-use development planned to include shops, restaurants, a hotel and a private school. The project is planned for 71 acres at 10040 Stribling Way, off U.S. 441.
Perhaps best known for West Palm Beach projects, Ross owns and developed CityPlace, a mixed-use center in downtown West Palm Beach. The firm is also raising several high-rise condos, including South Flagler House and Edgeworth, both along Flagler Drive.
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