Witkoff and Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries sold a portion of the former Banyan Cay Resort & Golf Club in West Palm Beach to homebuilder Schickedanz.
An affiliate of West Palm Beach-based Schickendanz paid $15 million for 10 acres approved for 31 single-family homes at the 200-acre site, records and real estate database Vizzda show. The buyer also obtained a $1.8 million mortgage from the seller.
Representatives for Access and Witkoff, which is led by co-CEOs Steve and Alex Witkoff, did not respond to requests for comment. Given that the two development firms are not involved in single-family home construction, a sale of the 10 acres was always likely after the joint venture acquired Banyan Cay in late 2023.
Executives for Schickendanz did not respond to requests for comment about whether the company intends to move forward with the currently approved plans.
In August, Witkoff and Access changed the names of the hotel and golf course, and brought in Ari Pearl’s PPG Development as an investor. The partnership renamed the Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course and club as the Dutchman’s Pipe Golf Club, a private facility with initiation fees starting at $300,000 that opened in the fall.
The joint venture recently completed the 194-room hotel, which was rechristened The Belgrove Resort & Spa, part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection.
Los Angeles-based Calmwater Capital sold the 200-acre site to Witkoff and Access more than a year ago by selling the ownership entity instead of through a typical deed sale. As a result, a purchase price was not disclosed. However, Witkoff and Access obtained a $75 million loan from a Calmwater Capital affiliate.
Witkoff and Access took over Banyan Cay after the project floundered under the previous developer, Domenic Gatto Jr.
In August 2023, Calmwater took title to the assemblage after winning an auction in West Palm Beach federal bankruptcy court with a $96.9 million credit bid. The amount represented the allegedly unpaid debt Gatto’s Banyan Cay entity owed Calmwater for a construction loan, court records show.
Gatto acquired the 200 acres for $26 million in 2015 and completed the golf course and club in 2017. But he was unable to complete the hotel as he faced mounting litigation tied to the project, as well as an unrelated federal indictment alleging Gatto committed health care fraud.