Dream Finders Homes Enters Palm Beach County in Riviera Beach
The national public homebuilder paid $12 million for 60 Riviera Beach lots, its first Palm Beach County site, at roughly $198,000 a lot for townhomes.
Dream Finders Homes (NYSE: DFH), the Jacksonville-based national public homebuilder, has bought 60 lots on North Military Trail in Riviera Beach for $12 million, its first project in Palm Beach County, The Real Deal reported September 18. The seller was The Estate Companies, and Tom Godart of Godart Florida Real Estate brokered the deal. Dream Finders plans to build The Townes at Avian, a townhome community of 1,600- to 1,700-square-foot units priced around $400,000, next to Estate Cos.’ Soleste on the Trail apartment project at the same address.
Why it matters
A national public builder does not enter a new county on instinct. Dream Finders underwrites land the way a public company has to: against a disclosed cost basis its investors can see every quarter. At $198,000 a lot, this deal is the first hard comp for what a public builder is willing to pay for entitled Palm Beach County dirt in the current cycle, and every private builder and land seller now competing for sites in the same submarket has a new number to negotiate against. The company has been expanding aggressively this year, including its pending $2.2 billion acquisition of Beazer Homes, and a Palm Beach County entry signals it sees lot supply and job growth in the county, tied in part to Related Ross’s West Palm Beach investment, as durable enough to justify a first foothold.
The numbers
The purchase covers 60 lots for $12 million, or about $198,000 per lot. The planned Townes at Avian units run 1,600 to 1,700 square feet and are expected to start around $400,000, which puts finished-lot cost at roughly half of projected sale price before vertical construction. Dream Finders’ neighboring reference point, Soleste on the Trail, is a 255-unit apartment complex with units from 700 to 1,000 square feet, giving the site a built-in rental comparable next door.
What’s next
Watch for Dream Finders to file site plans and building permits with Riviera Beach as the entitlement process moves forward, which will confirm phasing and a construction start date. Watch also for whether the builder follows with additional Palm Beach County land buys, since a public homebuilder rarely stops at one site once it commits engineering and sales staff to a new county. For more on how national capital is pricing land across the region, see the South Florida market hub.