Steve Ross advances plan to develop private school in West Palm Beach on 55 acres of city-owned land

His company, Related Ross, may also build workforce housing for school staff and faculty

The Real Deal

In the non-binding term sheet, the proposed sale price of the 55-acre site is $6.6 million, the average of appraisals obtained by the city ($3.7 million) and Related Ross ($9.5 million). City commissioners also waived a municipal requirement for an update of the appraisals, which were conducted about a year ago. The undeveloped land is south of Roebuck Road and east of Florida’s Turnpike.

The term sheet grants Related Ross six months to conduct due diligence evaluations of the 55-acre site to determine its suitability for a private school and, potentially, workforce housing for faculty and staff. Related Ross would recruit a company to operate the private school and may retain part of the site to develop workforce housing, if the entire site isn’t needed for the school.

After the due diligence period, Related Ross and the city would try to negotiate a purchase and sale agreement, subject to approval by the city commission. If they agree on a price for the 55-acre site, the city will submit and process an application to rezone the property for school use.

Read the rest in The Real Deal here

Investment Pursuits

Hedge funds hit with steepest margin calls since COVID-19 crisis

from Hedge Week

The escalation in the US-China trade war — triggered by former President Donald Trump’s announcement of sweeping new tariffs — wiped over $5.4tn off US equity valuations in just two days, prompting several major Wall Street banks to demand additional collateral from hedge fund clients whose portfolios had sharply declined in value.

Multiple prime brokers issued margin calls at a scale not seen since early 2020, underscoring the breadth and severity of the market dislocation. The S&P 500 posted a 9.1% weekly drop — its worst since the start of the pandemic — while the widespread sell-off spanned equities, rates, and commodities, triggering broad-based risk-off positioning.

“The velocity of the moves across asset classes — not just equities, but also rates and oil — was what drove the size of the margin calls,” said one senior executive at a US prime brokerage. “It was reminiscent of the kind of cross-asset turmoil we saw in March 2020.”

According to Morgan Stanley’s latest prime brokerage report, Thursday marked the worst single-day performance for US long-short equity funds since the firm began tracking the data in 2016, with the average fund down 2.6%. The pace of hedge fund equity selling matched levels seen during the regional banking crisis in 2023 and the initial Covid shock.

Although losses were significant, industry insiders note that the damage could have been worse. Many funds had proactively reduced gross and net exposures in recent weeks, cutting leverage amid growing concern over Trump’s increasingly hawkish trade rhetoric.

read the rest in Hedge Week here



Billionaire Pursuits



Palm Beach now home to 68 of the world's billionaires, says our look at 2025 Forbes data

From Palm Beach Daily News

At least 68 billionaires now have strong residential ties to Palm Beach — and their combined wealth tops $620 billion, according to an exclusive Palm Beach Daily News analysis of the latest list of the world’s richest people from Forbes.com. 

The majority of the town’s billionaires — 37 — saw their fortunes soar over the last year, including Palm Beach’s most famous resident. President Donald Trump’s estimated net worth climbed from $2.3 billion on March 8, 2024, to $5.1 billion on March 7 of this year, the annual Forbes list showed.

Billionaires landed on the Palm Beach Daily News list if they own real estate in town, whether it’s a primary home, a vacation house, a condominium, vacant land or an investment property. There are likely even more than 68 billionaires who own real estate in Palm Beach, but if so, their identities may be cloaked behind the entities they used to buy their properties. 

Other billionaires on the island may not have met the criteria Forbes uses to determine eligibility, which figures in the value of their stock portfolios and other assets, including private companies, real estate and art collections. 

A dozen of the Palm Beach billionaires watched their wealth drop, while 17 saw their fortunes unchanged from last year’s single-day snapshot. Financial data from 2024 was not available for the two Palm Beach billionaires who made his debut on the global Forbes list — Australia-born financier Michael Dorrell, whose estimated net worth clocked in at $8.5 billion, and real-estate businessman Mitchell Morgan and his family, with a fortune estimated at $5.5 billion. (See the complete list of Palm Beach billionaires below.) 

Read the rest in the Palm Beach Daily News

Social Pursuits

What A Night With Mr. C's !!

From Town & Country

What an amazing night thanks to Mr. C’s Residences West Palm Beach! A game changing project from the world renown Ciprianni Brothers, Mr. C’s promises to uplift West Palm to a world class domicile!\

The creme of the crop of South Florida’s financial and hedge fund elite gathered together to make deals, reunite, and forge new friendships–

Check out the photos here:

and on our Instagram here

Private Club Pursuits

Carriage House social club in Palm Beach wins approval for expanded membership

From Palm Beach Daily News

A popular Palm Beach social club won a second approval Wednesday to increase its membership.

In a unanimous vote, the Town Council approved the Carriage House's request to add 75 new members, raising its total membership to 382.

Another 75 members potentially could be added next year as part of the private club's three-year, phased expansion plan, bringing the total membership to 457. Carriage House was originally approved for 232 members.

"This has been really successful," council member Ted Cooney told Carriage House officials who were in the audience during Wednesday's meeting. "This caused a lot of community consternation originally, and you guys have really proven yourself an outstanding neighbor. Your team and the leadership of the club should be commended for doing what you said you were going to do, and doing it even better than you said you were going to do. You've surprised and turned around former opponents and turned them into supporters. You really have been an asset to this community."....

Read the rest in the Palm Beach Daily News

Watch Pursuits

Winding up value: How media shapes the luxury watch market

From Cornell College of Business

Have you ever wondered why some luxury watch brands sell for such high prices at auctions? While paid advertising helps make these brands more desirable, new research from SC Johnson College of Business shows that nonpaid media coverage—like news articles and reviews—also plays a significant role.

The researchers found that brands perform better when they're mentioned alongside other brands that are frequently grouped with many others—regardless of how prestigious those brands are. This may seem surprising since in crowded markets, brands usually try to stand out. They argue that there’s value in being seen as part of a well-connected group of brands.

The researchers analyzed a comprehensive dataset from the luxury watchmaking sector, covering media reports from January 2001 to December 2009 and auction data from January 2002 to December 2010. They also constructed networks based on co-mentions of firm names in the media, allowing them to assess these relationships against auction prices.

Read the full story on the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business website.