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Related Ross West Palm Beach Hotel Deal Faces a Second Lawsuit: What Buyers Should Know
Two neighborhood groups sued Palm Beach County and Related Ross affiliates on October 14, arguing that the county approved a $26 million land deal for a second convention center hotel without adequate public notice. It is the second legal challenge in two weeks, and neither has been decided. What is verified, what is alleged, and what it means if you are buying nearby.
Two legal challenges pending · No ruling in either case
Independent buyer research · Not affiliated with Related Ross, Palm Beach County or the City of West Palm Beach
Five answers, as of October 16, 2026
Each answer is expanded, with sources, further down the page.
- What happened?
- On October 14, 2026, two neighborhood groups sued Palm Beach County, Related Ross affiliates, the City of West Palm Beach and related public bodies, asking the court to void the county’s September 29 approval for lack of adequate public notice.
- What is the project?
- An 18-story, 400-room hotel on about 1.8 acres at 940 South Rosemary Avenue, beside the Palm Beach County Convention Center, on land now used for parking.
- What did the county approve?
- A $26 million purchase of the site from a Related Ross affiliate and a long-term lease of the hotel back to Related, approved 6–1 on September 29, 2026. The terms are in the transaction table.
- Is this the only lawsuit?
- No. A separate challenge filed September 30 targets the city’s August 31 development approvals. Different defendants, different legal questions; this page keeps them apart.
- Has anything been decided?
- No. Both cases are pending. A complaint states what the plaintiffs allege; it establishes nothing against the county, the city or Related.
Why this matters to a buyer near the site. The hotel’s design and the city and county approvals are documented. What the lawsuits put in doubt is whether those approvals stand, which conditions will bind the project and when construction starts. That is what to price before you make an offer in Grandview Heights or at CityPlace; the buyer section sets out how.
The October 14 complaint and the Sunshine Law claim
The complaint was filed in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, the state trial court for Palm Beach County, by the Grandview Heights Neighborhood Association and the West Palm Beach Neighborhood Alliance; Margaret Frazzini is president of both. The defendants are Palm Beach County; four entities the reporting identifies as Related Ross affiliates (CityPlace South Tower II, LLC; CityPlace Hotel, LLC; The Related Companies, L.P.; CityPlace Retail, L.L.C.); the CityPlace Community Development District; the City of West Palm Beach; and the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency.
The claim is procedural. Florida’s Sunshine Law, Section 286.011 of the Florida Statutes, requires public boards to meet in the open and to give reasonable notice before they act. According to WPTV’s account of the complaint, the transaction reached the September 29 agenda as an “add-on” six days before the vote, a procedure the plaintiffs say the board’s rules reserve for emergencies; commissioners received about 600 pages five days in advance; and the full 715-page file was posted about 90 minutes before the meeting began. The complaint also cites County Administrator Joseph Abruzzo’s acknowledgment that the county had verbally agreed with Related to vote in September so that Related could break ground that month.
The plaintiffs argue that action taken without adequate notice is void ab initio, invalid from the start, and ask for a declaratory judgment saying so plus temporary and permanent injunctions, court orders barring the county from executing, recording or funding the deal until the board reconsiders it at a properly noticed meeting. The county’s position at the meeting, as reported, was that state law requires 24 hours’ notice and five days was consistent with its normal process. As of October 16 no defendant had filed a response that we have seen, and no court had ruled.
An 18-story, 400-room hotel on a 1.8-acre parking lot
The county’s agenda record calls the project “Hotel 2”: an 18-story, 400-room hotel on approximately 1.80 acres at 940 South Rosemary Avenue, beside the convention center and the Hilton West Palm Beach, the first convention center hotel, which opened in 2016. Reported details include a height of about 204 feet, a Curio Collection by Hilton flag, close to 21,000 square feet of meeting space, restaurants and a second-floor pool deck.
One block south, across L Street, is the Grandview Heights Historic District, a neighborhood of homes built between 1910 and 1948 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. The complaint puts the nearest townhomes about 45 feet from the planned pool deck, which faces the district. For the wider market around the site, see our West Palm Beach neighborhood buyer guide.
A $26 million purchase, a lease back to Related, and 590 garage spaces
The transaction is agenda item 3C1 on the county’s September 29 agenda, marked “ADD-ON,” with 34 lettered motions. It needed a supermajority of five commissioners and passed 6–1, with Commissioner Gregg Weiss, whose district includes the site, voting no. The figures below come from the county’s own summary unless marked otherwise.
| Term | What the record shows | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Site | About 1.80 acres at 940 South Rosemary Avenue (“Hotel 2 Land”) | County record |
| Seller and price | CityPlace South Tower II, LLC; $26,000,000 plus about $2,000 in closing costs, funded by a transfer from General Fund reserves | County record |
| Payment schedule | $5 million deposit first; $21 million after financing, permits and construction milestones. The complaint calls these construction deposits. | Reported |
| Lease to Related | Initial 33-year term with renewal options; reporting puts the potential total at 97 years | County record |
| Base rent | $1,117,000 per year, rising 3% annually | County record |
| Participation rent | 6% of gross annual revenue above a $77 million threshold that itself rises 3% a year | County record |
| Parking | 590 spaces in the county garage (335 for the new hotel, 255 for the Hilton); $5.1 million up front; $708,000 initial annual rent | County record |
| Other components | Room-block agreements for convention events; a seventh amendment to the development agreement; amendments on the land’s tax status | County record |
| Property-tax treatment | No conventional property taxes under county ownership; staff estimate about $1.65 million a year forgone | Reported / alleged |
| Construction cost, start and opening | Estimates in local reporting vary; no verified figure or date | Not verified |
What the structure means. Through the sale-leaseback the county would own both the land and the completed hotel, which is why no conventional property taxes would be paid. Supporters argued that rent, parking and participation revenue would exceed the forgone taxes; the plaintiffs cite a higher figure. These are competing estimates, not findings, and we take no position on them. The payment schedule is why the complaint asks the court to stop funding before a properly noticed vote.
The September 30 challenge to the city’s approvals
On September 30, the day after the county vote, Grandview Heights residents filed a separate challenge in Palm Beach County circuit court against the City of West Palm Beach, according to Stet News; Law360 described it as a petition by two neighborhood groups. It targets the city’s August 31 approvals: Ordinance No. 5179-26, which created a Convention Center District and a Hotel II subarea within the CityPlace planned development, the site-plan resolutions, and three waivers, including one that cut the required ground-level active frontage on L Street from 20% to 9.5%.
As reported, the petition argues that the commission never made the public-facility capacity determination its code requires; that no studies addressed water, sewer and drainage; that Related’s traffic estimate relied on a 2019 study; and that commitments made at the hearings, including traffic calming and a 10 p.m. limit on the rooftop bar and pool deck, were never made binding. The first-reading record lists those measures as proposed conditions; we have not reviewed the adopted resolutions and do not resolve the disagreement. City officials and Related declined to comment, Stet News reported, and the city said no building permit had been issued as of early October.
Related Ross’s position, as far as it is on the record
Related Ross, Stephen Ross’s West Palm Beach-based company, which also proposes the 464 Fern Street residential tower downtown, has not publicly responded to either lawsuit in the reporting we reviewed. What is on the record is narrower. After the vote, Mr. Ross told WPTV the company would “do everything during construction to try and alleviate it the best we can,” and said the garage could serve both hotels because hotel guests and convention visitors use it at different times. In June, Related’s land-use representative told the planning board that the design had been revised for neighbors: raised crosswalks, traffic calming and flashing beacons on Rosemary Avenue, a second walkway toward Okeechobee Boulevard and no amplified music outdoors after 10 p.m.
The neighborhood groups say the process, not only the design, failed them: concerns raised with Related in February 2025, a 14-page objection to the city in June 2026, opposition at the planning board and, in Ms. Frazzini’s words at the county meeting, “not enough time for us to assemble the people who had something to say.”
What this means if you are buying near the convention center
The proposed hotel and the city and county approvals are documented. What the lawsuits leave open is whether those approvals stand, which conditions will be enforceable and when construction starts. Price that uncertainty with documents, not predictions.
Seven-point due diligence
1. Check the pending cases and the approvals they target. Track both cases by party name in the Palm Beach County Clerk’s online case search, then read what is challenged: Ordinance No. 5179-26 and the site-plan conditions (city Development Services) and county agenda item 3C1. Our Marquis Miami lawsuit analysis shows how to read a pending case before you buy.
2. Verify construction status and permits. No building permit had been issued as of early October; ask the city’s building division what has been filed since. Reported construction estimates run two and a half to three years, with worker parking, truck routes and daytime noise first and valet traffic, evening activity and lighting once the hotel opens.
3. Evaluate traffic and neighborhood conditions yourself. Walk the block on a convention day and on a quiet one; the association’s counter logged more than 600 pedestrians a day at the L Street cut-through in low season, and valet staging would run on Rosemary Avenue. A townhome 45 feet from the pool deck, a house on L Street and a CityPlace condominium face different versions of the same project.
4. Separate proposed, approved and alleged. Measures Related described at the hearings protect you only if the adopted documents impose them and the city enforces them; allegations about pedestrian danger, noise, lighting and parking spillover are claims in litigation, not findings. The city has changed course on approvals before; see our report on the proposed pause on waterfront development approvals.
5. Review current disclosures. Ask the seller what they know about pending development and litigation affecting the area, ask a condominium association whether it has taken a position or joined a proceeding, and ask your attorney about recorded easements or covenants. For condominium buyers, our guide to Florida’s 2026 condo financing rules explains which association documents to request and why lenders read them.
6. Compare public property and neighborhood information. Property Appraiser records, permit history and recent sales on the same blocks show what buyers actually paid while the project was pending. We have seen no data showing the proposal has moved prices either way; do not negotiate on a decline, or a cancellation, that has not happened.
7. Get independent representation before you negotiate. The seller’s agent and the developer’s sales team work for the other side; negotiate on documented facts with someone who works for you (below). If the home is itself a pre-construction condominium, our South Florida pre-construction buyer guide covers deposits, escrow and completion terms.
From city approvals to two pending cases
June – August 2026 · Reported
City approvals
Planning Board recommendation June 16; Ordinance No. 5179-26 first reading August 3; adopted with the site-plan resolutions and three waivers August 31.
September 29, 2026 · County record
County approves the transaction, 6–1
Agenda item 3C1, marked as an add-on, 34 motions.
September 30, 2026 · Reported
Challenge to the city’s approvals filed
Grandview Heights residents against the City of West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County circuit court.
October 14, 2026 · Reported
Sunshine Law complaint filed
The neighborhood association and the alliance against the county, Related affiliates, the CDD, the city and the CRA.
As of October 16, 2026 · Reported
Status
No building permit issued; no responses or hearing dates reported. Both cases pending.
How to read the next headline. A denied temporary injunction is not a ruling that the county acted lawfully, a hearing date says nothing about the outcome, and the city case does not decide the county case or the reverse. Until a court rules on the merits, the project’s status is “approved and challenged.”
Why independent representation matters in a neighborhood like this
In a block where a developer, a county, a city and a neighborhood association are all in court, nobody selling you a home is neutral about what happens next. Someone should pull the ordinance, check the docket and tell you plainly what is known and what is not, and that person should work for you.
TheBuyerRebate.com and Jordan Real Estate represent buyers independently, with attorney-reviewed transaction support. Eligible buyers receive up to 50% of our buyer-agent commission back at closing. Whether a rebate applies, and how much, depends on the compensation available in your transaction, your representation agreement and lender and closing requirements; we confirm the figure in writing before you sign. How the rebate works, step by step, is in our Florida Buyer Rebate Guide.
Buying in Grandview Heights or near the convention center? Talk to us before you make an offer.
We can pull the approvals, track both cases, help you work through them with your attorney and estimate the rebate available in your transaction. Eligible buyers receive up to 50% of our buyer-agent commission back at closing.
(786) 550-6294- Looking at a specific home? Tell us the address and we will tell you what the approvals and the dockets say about that block.
- Already under contract? We can still help you understand what the pending cases do and do not change before closing.
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What this page is based on
Research cutoff: October 16, 2026. Facts drawn from the county’s own agenda record are labeled as such; facts known only from journalism are labeled reported; allegations are labeled as allegations. Court filings were not reviewed directly for this page, so case numbers and procedural details are taken from reporting.
Source Register
- Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners · September 29, 2026Regular meeting agenda, item 3C1 (add-on): Convention Center Hotel 2 transaction
Primary record. Supports: site size and address, 18 stories and 400 rooms, $26,000,000 purchase price and seller, lease term and rent, participation rent, parking spaces and payments, budget transfers, supermajority requirement, add-on designation, Property Review Committee date. Read the agenda item (county website). - WPTV / WFLX · October 15, 2026Residents file lawsuit in Palm Beach County over $26 million convention center hotel deal
Supports: October 14 filing, plaintiffs, defendants, Sunshine Law allegations, notice timeline, relief sought, 6–1 vote, quoted statements, distance to townhomes, historic-district details. - WPTV · September 29, 2026Palm Beach County approves $26M deal for second convention center hotel
Supports: vote, $5 million initial deposit and $21 million tied to milestones, property-tax estimate, Stephen Ross’s remarks, county attorney’s 24-hour statement. - Stet News · October 3 and October 6, 2026Second convention center hotel a deal, but wait; Convention hotel pushback
Supports: September 30 challenge against the city, its reported arguments, declined comment, permit status, administrator’s remarks on September timing, Hilton opening year. - Law360 · October 5, 2026Groups say Fla. city bent rules for Related Ross hotel tower
Supports: characterization of the city challenge as a petition by two neighborhood groups raising valet-safety concerns. - Boca Post · August 11, 2026West Palm Beach commission advances 18-story convention center hotel
Supports: August 3 first reading, ordinance and resolution numbers, waivers, proposed site-plan conditions, construction-worker parking. - WLRN / Stet News · June 23, 2026Second convention center hotel passes key test
Supports: June 16 planning board vote and Related’s described design revisions. - The Real Deal · October 15, 2026West Palm residents sue Related Ross over convention center hotel deal
Reported the October 14 complaint. Cited for completeness; the facts above were verified against the sources listed.
Independence and status. TheBuyerRebate.com / Jordan Group is not affiliated with Related Ross, Related Companies, any CityPlace entity, Palm Beach County, the City of West Palm Beach or either neighborhood group. This page is independent buyer-advisory editorial content. Status is described as of October 16, 2026 and will change as the cases proceed. All allegations described here are unadjudicated; no court has ruled on them. The photograph shows downtown West Palm Beach for context and does not depict the hotel site. Nothing here is an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy real estate, and nothing here is legal, tax or financial advice. Rebate amounts depend on the compensation actually received on each transaction and, where financing is involved, lender approval of credits. Information is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and is subject to change without notice.