WEST PALM BEACH, FL – Tortoise Properties, LLC, a privately held commercial and residential company headquartered in Palm Beach County, secured a $88.530 million construction loan and will begin building its newest mixed-use residential development in downtown West Palm Beach. Lending was provided by Acore Capital for the development of two eight-story towers on 2.5 acres at 740 and 840 North Dixie Highway that will be connected by a floor-to-ceiling glass skybridge suspended over Eucalyptus Street. The Class-A luxury apartment community will feature 264 studio, one and two-bedroom residences with 3,400+ square feet of retail frontage on Dixie Highway and 371 parking spaces.
As West Palm Beach, now referred to as the Wall Street of the South, continues to attract more businesses and employees, the demand for additional residential housing continues to grow. Tortoise Properties President, CEO & Co-Founder Jake Geleerd reported that Tortoise Properties acquired the site-plan approved project in December 2021 and then led an experienced and diverse project team to efficiently and timely obtain the necessary permits and approvals required to begin construction.
According to Tortoise Properties Chairman & Co-founder Kelly Brannen, the project team included MSA Architects (architecture), Verdex Construction (construction), EDSA (landscaping), Hensel Phelps (project management), Keshavarz & Associates (civil engineering), McNamara Salvia (structural engineering), WGI engineering), Castle Residential (property management) and Managed Land Entitlements(entitlements and permitting).
We are especially pleased to have secured our construction loan with Acore during a rising interest-rate market and a recession-weary commercial lending environment, shared Geleerd. This loan propels this mixed-use development forward in a fundamentally strong market while at the same time reinforces lender confidence in the demonstrated track record and strength of Tortoise Properties and its residential and commercial projects. With fencing going up today and site mobilization beginning next week, we continue to advance forward with plans to share more updates in the coming weeks.