Brian Bandell, Senior Reporter for the South Florida Business Journal reports that a group of South Florida developers purchased a 105-acre equestrian harness racing site west of Lake Worth Beach for $15 million. South Florida Trotting Center and Cherry Holdings, both managed by Sam Stathis of Stathis Enterprises in New York, sold the property at 7563 S. State Road 7 to Lynx at Lake Worth LLC, managed by attorney and Realtor Matthew Maschler and Michael McCarty in Boca Raton, along with Ryan Zuckerman of Zuckerman Homes in Coconut Creek.
It currently has 137,869 square feet of equestrian facilities, such as stables and barns, along with riding courses.
Called Olympia of Palm Beach, the property is used to train racehorses. Stathis ran the World Chariot Racing Federation, and has been the CEO of several companies, including Polo Electric Corp. and Celebrity Vision.
In 2016, Stathis issued a press release opposing the decoupling legislation in Florida that would allow parimutuel casinos to stop running horse races. The decoupling bill was ultimately approved in 2021 and several casinos in the state have canceled horse racing.
Zuckerman said his group signed a lease with the seller to continue operating the property for racehorse training, however, they will explore future opportunities over the long term. Zuckerman Homes has built homes throughout Florida.
“We will let it play out and see where it progresses,” Zuckerman said. “It’s hard to pass up any property in Palm Beach County.” Maschler a broker at Signature Real Estate Finder in Boca Raton and a co-investor in the Gardens of Boca Raton cemetery and mausoleum in Boca Raton.
In nearby Wellington, the village has been resistant to rezone equestrian sites for development. Yet, in unincorporated Palm Beach, county officials have signed off on several redevelopments of equestrian sites into residential projects in recent years.
by Brian Bandell, reprinted with permission from South Florida Business JournalĀ