MIAMI—Over 11 acres of prime waterfront land front Clear Lake in West Palm Beach, FL has traded hands. Mulberry Street Partners and Temple Hill Partners, which includes South Florida billionaire real estate developer Jeff Greene, acquired the land.

Matthew Rotolante, managing director of SVN South, the Miami office of Sperry Van Ness, and senior advisor Mark King, represented the seller, WPB Clearlake SPE. The duo also represented the buyer in the $12.5 million deal.

"As the last site of its kind in the area, it is prime for development," says Rotolante. "The addition of the new Palm Beach Outlet mall, the unique 32-unit-per-acre zoning, and the incredible competition it enjoyed as a result of our marketing program all point to this property bearing fruit for years to come." 

Rotolante listed the parcel at 719 Executive Center Drive in June 2015. The site originally was slated for development as high-end condominiums called the Sail Club in 2005. That project was abandoned during the downturn. The land has since been through the foreclosure process and federal bankruptcy court.

The property generated intense interest from over 100 commercial real estate developers, brokers, REITs and investors across Florida and nationwide. King and Rotolante, experts in handling bank-owned and bankruptcy properties, fielded over a dozen competitive offers before the seller settled on Greene.

As Brad Capas, president of CapasGroup Realty Advisors, sees it, rental apartments are probably the most active of the asset classes. He notes that equity investment capital generally requires a return on cost in the 6.5% to 7% range for new apartment development projects.

"Assuming a new, class A apartment community was available for sale in a good, West Palm Beach location, investors would generally be willing to accept an unleveraged return or 'cap rate' in the 4.25% to 4.75% range," Capas tells GlobeSt.com. "A well-located, class B apartment property in West Palm Beach could reasonably be expected generate an unleveraged return in the 5% to 5.5% range. Again, these are broad ranges that could vary considerably for a specific property or submarket."

The West Palm Beach market is heating up. Recently, an entire city block traded hands.