By Brian D’Antoni
Sundaze Gazette · Sept. 23, 2026
On a 124-acre slab between Yamato Road and Spanish River Boulevard, the campus where IBM once invented the personal computer just changed landlords — and South Florida’s owner map changed with it.
Related Ross, the West Palm Beach–rooted developer that has spent nearly three decades shaping downtown West Palm and is now pushing a $10 billion–plus Palm Beach County pipeline, has closed on the Boca Raton Innovation Campus at 5000 T-Rex Avenue. The deal, announced in the firm’s September 11, 2026 release, is Related’s first Boca asset: a working 1.7-million-square-foot office-and-technology campus with Ares Real Estate acquisition financing arranged by Newmark, a long runway of prior mixed-use entitlements, and a tenant stack that already includes a quantum headquarters relocating from Palo Alto.
This is not a press-release rewrite. It is an owner, tenant, landlord, and vendor map for operators in the Palm Beach–Broward orbit who need to know who controls what now, what money was and was not disclosed, and what practical next steps look like before anyone pours another cubic yard of concrete.
Who Closed — and Who Holds the Keys
Related Ross is the buyer. The seller was a joint-venture ownership stack tied to Boca-based CP Group, with partners reported across coverage as DRA Advisors, Las Olas Capital Advisors, and Rialto. REBusinessOnline, citing South Florida Business Journal, names that four-party sell side; CBS12 / South Florida Sun Sentinel reporting confirms CP Group’s role alongside DRA and Las Olas. No brokers represented the sale, per Related’s release.
Control, for operators, means the name on the landlord letter — and the capital sitting behind it. Stephen M. Ross, chairman and CEO of Related Ross, framed the buy as a Boca chapter after nearly thirty years in West Palm Beach: “BRiC changed the course of technology once before for the region, and it will play an important role in what comes next.” Jordan Bargas, executive vice president, told the Sun Sentinel the near-term job is to get into Boca, appreciate the campus history and tech base, then evolve a destination that fits the city’s context — not a carbon copy of West Palm or Wellington.
That sequencing matters more than the ribbon language. Related’s published posture is clear: keep running BRiC as an office and technology campus while advancing a longer mixed-use vision of amenities, retail, and restaurants. American Developer’s September 11 reporting noted that, as of that window, Related had not yet filed a new rezoning or mixed-use site plan with the City of Boca Raton. Operators should treat “destination” as a stated intent, not a permitted shovel date.
On the sell-side exit, CP Group Managing Partner Angelo Bianco told Bisnow the team was proud of transforming an underutilized former IBM park into a landmark campus — the kind of handoff language that usually signals a completed repositioning cycle, not a distress fire sale.
The Money Desk: Financing, Prior Marks, What Was Not Disclosed
Start with what the primaries refuse to say. Related’s release and Newmark’s September 18 financing announcement both leave the purchase price undisclosed. Newmark’s debt team — Co-President of Global Debt & Structured Finance Jordan Roeschlaub, Vice Chairman Nick Scribani, Managing Director John Caraviello, working with Executive Vice Chairman Josh King — arranged acquisition financing with Ares. Related and Newmark also leave the loan size undisclosed in those official releases.
South Florida Sun Sentinel reporting carried by CBS12 said Related received nearly $300 million in Ares financing. That figure is useful as attributed local-media reporting; it is not the number Related or Newmark put in their own releases. Owners modeling comps should keep those layers separate.
Prior marks on the same dirt are clearer, and they explain why the 2026 price silence still lands loud. In 2018, Crocker Partners (now CP Group) and Rialto paid about $179.3 million for the campus, per The Real Deal. In late 2021, DRA Advisors joined through a recapitalization that valued BRiC at $320.2 million; CP Group’s own account called it a recap, not a full sale, with CP remaining operating partner. Those are historical control and valuation markers — not the Related Ross sticker.
Counsel on the Related side, per the firm’s release: Adam Beighley of Beighley, Myrick, Udell P.A. on land use; Holland & Knight’s Shawn Amuial and Eric Reissi on the transaction; Joe Dewey and Jessica Hoch on financing. When a deal of this acreage closes without sale brokers and with named land-use counsel on day one, sophisticated owners read “entitlement and capital sophistication,” not “casual trophy buy.”
Ares, for its part, positioned the relationship as an extension of existing Related work across South Florida markets. David Proctor, Head of Originations, U.S. Real Estate Debt at Ares Real Estate, said the firm believes BRiC will play a meaningful role in Boca’s evolution as a technology center — lender language that usually tracks multi-year hold theses, not flip calendars.
Tenants First: Who Already Occupies the Map
BRiC is not an empty canvas. It is one of Boca Raton’s largest employment centers, and the tenant map is the first desk any vendor, broker, or neighboring landlord should open.
D-Wave Quantum Inc. is the headline relocator. In January 2026 the company announced it would move its corporate headquarters from Palo Alto to BRiC and stand up a major U.S. R&D facility before year-end, per D-Wave’s BusinessWire release. The same cycle tied a $20 million Florida Atlantic University commitment to install a D-Wave Advantage2 annealing quantum computer on FAU’s nearby Boca campus — a talent-and-research pipeline sitting minutes from T-Rex Avenue. Related’s September release treats D-Wave’s Boca HQ choice as part of the campus thesis. Lease-size reporting around the January announcement clustered near 25,000 square feet; later trade coverage described an expanded footprint across two buildings. Treat exact leased SF as fluid until landlord or tenant filings settle it.
Other tenants named in Newmark / REBusinessOnline coverage include Modernizing Medicine (ModMed), Cinch Home Services, Allstar Recruiting Locums LLC, and Everglades University. Sun Sentinel reporting also flags media agency Brainlabs. The amenity stack that supports that roster — two cafés, an 800-seat presentation hall, event spaces, a gym, and a shuttle to the Boca Raton Tri-Rail station — is not decorative. It is why community uses (Sunday farmers market, art, occasional services) already pull non-office traffic onto the site.
For tenants: a landlord change at this scale usually means new asset management contacts, possible amenity or capital-plan refresh, and a longer conversation about how mixed-use entitlements eventually touch parking, access, and construction phasing. Existing leases still govern. The practical move is to confirm notice addresses, CAM and operating-expense audit rights, and any assignment/estoppel language your counsel already negotiated — not to assume the campus becomes a construction zone next quarter.
For vendors (janitorial, security, F&B, AV, shuttle, event production, IT, landscaping): ownership transitions are when incumbent contracts get reviewed and when new RFPs appear. Map your current BRiC work orders to the new landlord entity, keep service levels documented, and watch for Related’s property-management introduction rather than waiting for a rumor on Yamato Road.
The Entitlement Runway Related Inherited
The campus did not arrive as a blank-zone industrial remnant. Under prior ownership, the City of Boca Raton approved mixed-use zoning in 2023 that, according to The Real Deal’s September 10 report and corroborating trade coverage, allows up to 1,243 residential units, 125,000 square feet of retail, 85,000 square feet of medical office, a 55,000-square-foot entertainment venue, and a 140-room hotel.
That is a large entitled envelope on a live income property — the combination large developers hunt for when they want yield now and optionality later. Related has publicly emphasized continuing office-and-tech operations while studying a curated amenity, retail, and restaurant mix. Prior-era partnership chatter also put Miami-based Terra Group into residential and retail conversations under CP-era plans; whether any of that partnership architecture survives the Related close is not verified in the September 2026 buyer materials. Operators should not assume Terra still controls a residential vertical unless Related or Terra says so on the record.
For neighboring landlords and brokers: entitled density on 124 acres next to Tri-Rail and I-95 is a competitive pressure event even before a site plan posts. Expect sharper underwriting on Class A and flex product from Boca into Deerfield and northern Broward as capital prices the Related entry. For city-adjacent vendors (civil, MEP, hospitality FF&E, multifamily GCs): the entitlement headline is a watchlist item, not a bid package. Track Boca development services for anything filed under the new owner before you staff a pursuit team.
Palm Beach Orbit: Why Boca Matters Next to West Palm and Wellington
Related Ross did not discover Palm Beach County in 2026. The firm’s own chronology starts with CityPlace in 1998 and now cites more than $10 billion in planned investment across the county. Village Landing — a 71-acre mixed-use destination in Wellington, with a recent land close reported around $28.3 million for a 31-acre piece of that assemblage — gives Related a western county node. West Palm remains the high-rise and lifestyle-office core. BRiC is the southern Palm Beach employment campus: tech heritage, FAU adjacency, Tri-Rail, and a quantum anchor already in motion.
Read that triangle the way an operator should. West Palm is where Related’s office and condo narrative already trades. Wellington is a greenfield-style mixed-use destination play. Boca is an income campus with entitlement optionality inside a city that has already shown it will fight over Brightline-adjacent density when voters and campaigns engage. Bisnow noted Related’s earlier interest in a city Brightline-area redevelopment that ultimately went another direction and later failed at the ballot — useful only as proof that Boca is not a rubber-stamp market. Related’s Boca entry via a private campus acquisition is a different politics problem than a contested public parcel.
For Palm Beach owners: a Related-controlled BRiC raises the ceiling on what institutional capital thinks Boca tech-office and eventual mixed-use can clear. For recruitment and workforce vendors: D-Wave plus FAU’s quantum install plus Related’s foundation language about expanding Build Together community investment into Boca are signals that talent programming, not just drywall, will get budget attention.
Gazette readers already tracking the wider corridor can keep SoFla Economic Buzz: Palm Beach–Broward–Miami Owner Corridor Map and the FAU Runway Boca apply map open as sibling desks — different stories, same talent and capital weather system.
Broward Adjacency: Why Operators South of Yamato Should Care
BRiC sits minutes north of the Palm Beach–Broward line. That is not trivia for Deerfield Beach, Coconut Creek, Parkland, and northern Coral Springs operators. Large entitled campuses with new institutional landlords change broker tours, vendor travel radii, and the competitive set for employers deciding between Boca Class A and Broward flex.
If you lease or own along the Powerline / Military / Sample belt, the practical questions are boring and valuable: Will BRiC’s amenity refresh raise the bar for what tenants demand elsewhere? Will Related’s long-term retail and restaurant vision pull weekend and evening traffic that currently dies at county line? Will quantum and health-tech clustering at BRiC and FAU deepen a north-county talent shed that Broward employers already skim?
None of those questions require inventing a Related construction start date. They require updating your 2026–2027 competitive set with a landlord who builds destinations for a living and just bought 1.7 million square feet of Boca employment space.
Owner, Tenant, and Vendor Next Steps
If you are a BRiC tenant: Confirm your landlord notice party and insurance certificate routing under the new ownership entity. Ask asset management, in writing, about near-term capital plans that could affect access, parking, or utilities. Review renewal, expansion, and early-termination language before the rumor mill writes your strategy. Keep D-Wave / FAU quantum activity in your workforce story if you recruit engineers or researchers.
If you are a neighboring landlord or listing broker: Reprice tours against a Related-owned, entitled 124-acre campus — not against 2021’s CP-era narrative. Do not invent Related’s purchase price in offering memoranda; the primaries left it blank. Note Ares as acquisition lender and Newmark as arranger when debt comps matter. Watch Boca for any Related site-plan filing before you sell a “micro-city groundbreaking” story to clients.
If you are a vendor or contractor: Inventory every active BRiC work order and contract assignment clause. Introduce your firm cleanly to the new ownership/property team with references from other institutional campuses. Separate “office ops keep-running” bids from speculative mixed-use pursuit binders until a public filing exists.
If you are a Palm Beach or Broward owner watching capital: Treat BRiC as Related’s Boca beachhead inside a countywide $10B+ frame that already includes West Palm and Wellington. Pair that with the county’s tech and visitor floors already mapped in the Gazette’s corridor coverage — and with Boca-specific founder paths like FAU Runway — rather than reading one press release as a boom ticker.
If you are a city or civic partner: Related has said the Related Ross Foundation’s Build Together work will expand into Boca with a focus on education, economic opportunity, wellness, and culture. That is a real door for nonprofits and workforce groups — and a separate track from site-plan politics.
The owner move is the same in every seat: verify against Related’s release, Newmark’s financing note, and the prior entitlement record; omit inventing a sale price; and calendar Boca development filings before you staff a chase.
Sources: Related Ross Sept. 11, 2026 release; Newmark / PR Newswire Sept. 18, 2026 financing release; REBusinessOnline Sept. 22, 2026; South Florida Business Journal coverage; CBS12 / South Florida Sun Sentinel; The Real Deal; Bisnow; American Developer; D-Wave and CP Group January 2026 BusinessWire releases; CP Group 2021 DRA recap note (all used for this package).
Key Facts for Owners and Search
- Deal: Related Ross acquired Boca Raton Innovation Campus (BRiC), 5000 T-Rex Avenue, Boca Raton — 124 acres, ~1.7 million SF office/technology campus; first Related Boca asset — Related Ross PR.
- Purchase price: Not disclosed by Related or Newmark
- Financing: Ares Real Estate funds provided acquisition financing; Newmark arranged (Roeschlaub, Scribani, Caraviello, King). Official Related/Newmark releases leave loan size undisclosed; Sun Sentinel/CBS12 reported nearly $300 million — treat as attributed media, not official release figure — Newmark PR · REBusinessOnline · CBS12.
- Sellers: CP Group–led JV reported with DRA Advisors, Las Olas Capital Advisors, and Rialto; no sale brokers — Related PR; REBusinessOnline/SFBJ; CBS12.
- Near-term control posture: Continue operating as office + technology campus; long-term vision for amenities, retail, restaurants / mixed-use destination — Related PR; Newmark PR.
- Prior marks (not 2026 price): 2018 CP/Rialto ~$179.3M; 2021 DRA recapitalization valued campus at $320.2M with CP remaining operating partner — TRD 2018 · CP Group / TRD 2021.
- Inherited entitlements (2023 city zoning under prior ownership): up to 1,243 residential units; 125,000 SF retail; 85,000 SF medical office; 55,000 SF entertainment; 140-room hotel — The Real Deal. Related new mixed-use site plan: not reported filed as of early post-close trade coverage.
- Anchor tenant / talent: D-Wave Quantum HQ + U.S. R&D to BRiC by end 2026 (from Palo Alto); FAU $20M Advantage2 commitment on FAU Boca campus — D-Wave BusinessWire.
- Other named tenants (trade coverage): ModMed / Modernizing Medicine; Cinch Home Services; Allstar Recruiting Locums; Everglades University; Brainlabs — REBusinessOnline; Sun Sentinel.
- Related Palm Beach frame: CityPlace era since 1998; >$10B planned PBC investment; Village Landing 71 acres Wellington (land close / ~$28.3M for 31-acre piece per TRD context) — Related PR; TRD.
- Gazette twins (light-link): SoFla Economic Buzz corridor map · FAU Runway Boca apply map · Palm Beach Partners Matchmaker owner prep.
