Partnership Including Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Justin Timberlake Join Mark Bellissimo in Seeking to Develop Luxury Residential, Retail, Sports Facility in Wellington
2 years ago StraightArrow Comments Off on Partnership Including Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Justin Timberlake Join Mark Bellissimo in Seeking to Develop Luxury Residential, Retail, Sports Facility in Wellington
WELLINGTON, Florida, April 24, 2023–Mark Bellissimo has formed a partnership with a luxury development group that includes golfers Tiger Woods and Ernie Els and pop star Justin Timberlake to move ahead with plans for a new luxury residential community in the heart of Wellington.
The group named Wellington Lifestyle Partners and announced Monday is of Mark Bellissimo with NEXUS Luxury Collections to develop a total area of more than 600 acres/243ha including the Equestrian Village where the Global Dressage Festival is held. The development will require “a nine-figure investment” that would translate to at least $100 million.
Wellington Equestrian Partners headed by Mark was formed in 2007 to successfully acquire the grounds hosting the Winter Equestrian Festival of hunter-jumper shows and other large tracts of land around it and went on to create Global primarily for dressage. The WEF hunter-jumper venue was sold in July 2021 to the European-based Global Equestrian Group. The dressage facility that also hosts hunter-jumper competitions on a grass derby field was retained by the Wellington partners but announced plans a year ago to create a luxury residential community on the site.
The statement said the project called The Wellington will be developed and operated by NEXUS. It will comprise custom residences, top amenities, luxury retail outlets, restaurants, a re-designed Pete Dye 18-hole championship golf course, a 100,000-square-foot facility dedicated to sports performance, wellness, fitness and recovery, and an array of tennis, paddle and pickleball courts, pools, restaurants, walking trails, and children’s amenities.
Christopher Anand, chief executive officer and managing partner of NEXUS, said: “We are highly selective in where we choose to go to curate a complementary suite of experiences for our customers. Partnering and co-investing with Mark to create The Wellington is a perfect fit for NEXUS as we expand into the important South Florida marketplace. We are excited to build something special on the land Mark has painstakingly pulled together over the last 18 years. This new club community will take inspiration from what we have created at Albany in The Bahamas and will be customized to celebrate the best of Wellington’s sports lifestyle.”
“WLP.” Mark said, “is eager to launch this next chapter to ensure that Wellington continues as the world’s premier equestrian lifestyle destination. With NEXUS, we have selected an experienced, top-tier development partner to help us create The Wellington, a world-class residential experience that underscores all we have come to love about this village–sport, recreation, and community.”
In addition to Mark Bellissimo and NEXUS, WLP is supported by other prominent investors including entrepreneur Jeff Skoll, founding president of eBay.
Douglas McMahon, a senior managing director at NEXUS and Tavistock Group, well become the managing partner of WLP.
No timeline was given for the proposed development.
Previous efforts to develop accommodations and retail stores on Equestrian Village land was torpedoed by opposition from within the equestrian community.
