The Toledano family’s BH Group and the Pérez family’s Related Group are cleared to close on the Transit Village site, after an arbitrator broke a yearslong deadlock between the developers and Palm Beach County.
Aventura-based BH Group and Coconut Grove-based Related plan the 1.3 million-square-foot development with nearly 1,000 residential units, as well as commercial space in downtown West Palm Beach.
The site is at 150 Clearwater Drive, adjacent to the Intermodal Transit Center where Amtrak, Tri-Rail, city trolleys and Greyhound buses stop. Israeli billionaire Teddy Sagi is an investor in the project, and Palm Beach County developer Michael Masanoff is a partner.
The developers’ affiliate Transit Village LLC sued the county, which owns the 6.6-acre site, in 2024, alleging it blocked the property sale and tried to strong-arm them into paying nearly 10 times more than the agreed $3.6 million price by blaming the need to repay a Federal Transit Administration grant the county used to build the Intermodal center, according to court filings.
The developers argued the FTA hadn’t explicitly demanded repayment and accused the county of secretly communicating with the FTA during the litigation.
The county countered in court that the $3.6 million site sale would leave taxpayers on the hook for the $35.5 million needed to pay back the FTA, court filings show.
The impasse ended last month.
Jeffrey Colbath, a retired judge sitting as the arbitrator, said the developers are in their right to demand a closing date. Colbath outlined the path forward: Within six months prior to the scheduled closing, each side will get the property appraised and, if they’re at odds, they have to “make good-faith efforts” to resolve the valuation dispute.
The developers are on the hook to pay back the FTA, but they have to be looped in the county’s communications with the federal agency, Colbath wrote.
Previously, Transit Village LLC had tried to speak directly with the FTA, but the agency said “it is in privity with the county,” according to Colbath. Now, the county has to cooperate with Transit Village LLC and facilitate talks between the developers and the FTA.
On Friday, Judge Caryn Siperstein, who is presiding in the case, approved Colbath’s arbitration award, implementing it as her final judgment in the case.
Isaac Toledano, the patriarch of the family that leads BH, said this allows the project to move forward.
John Shubin, the attorney representing the developers, added that Colbath’s guidance and requirement for Palm Beach County to cooperate with Transit Village LLC communications with the FTA allow for a “fair and equitable” process and site closing.
In past court filings, Transit Village LLC pointed to issues with the case under the previous county administration. In 2024, the county obtained a statement from an FTA administrator that it used in its court arguments, even as Transit Village LLC wasn’t allowed to question the administrator, according to a 2025 court filing by the developers. Then, the developers raised questions about communications between the FTA and the county from which Transit Village LLC was excluded. It found out about these exchanges through a Freedom of Information Act request to the FTA.
Some of the records showed the FTA originally didn’t require an updated site appraisal after the sale closes, contradicting the county’s arguments in court, yet the FTA’s position on this flipped following communication between a county representative with the FTA, according to the developers’ filing.
Palm Beach County attorneys didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The two sides started working together toward a resolution after Palm Beach County’s administrative leadership changed, according to court filings. Joseph Abruzzo was appointed as Palm Beach administrator, the county’s top hired post, last year, replacing Verdenia Baker, who retired.
Transit Village is planned for four 25-story buildings, three of them with 986 residential units and the fourth with 108 hotel keys, as well as 180,000 square feet of offices and 49,000 square feet of retail. The residential units will include 42 apartments at workforce rents and 165 micro-units.
The developers plan roughly $25 million for improvements to the Intermodal center, which the county owns.
Transit Village has been in the works for nearly two decades. Masanoff won a Palm Beach County request for proposals to build a transit-oriented project on the site in 2010. The project stalled, with a source previously telling The Real Deal that it was due to multiple amendments to agreements with government agencies that had a say in the project.
The project gained steam again five years ago when Related, Sagi and BH invested in the development with Masanoff. They obtained approval for the latest development plan in 2022.
BH and Related have partnered on over 20 projects across South Florida, including a planned redevelopment of the historic Hollywood Beach Resort that they have under contract and a 90-unit condo in West Palm.
Sagi made his wealth in an online gambling software development firm, fintech investments and later invested in real estate in Europe. Fellow Israeli Toledano introduced him to Related, and Sagi subsequently backed several of BH and Related’s South Florida projects.
Read more
Hollywood proposes upping building heights near historic hotel as coastal cities reevaluate regulations
BH Group closes on 151-acre golf course buy after settling litigation with Straub
Related, BH launch sales for Viceroy Residences Aventura
