Tiger Woods and Justin Timberlake and coming together for a big luxury deal in Florida. Late last month, Mark Bellissimo announced a partnership with Nexus Luxury Collection to build a 600-acre residential club community in Wellington, Florida. Bellissimo is the founder, managing partner and largest shareholder of a series of equestrian-related entities and is the managing partner of Wellington Equestrian Partners, according to The Street. Woods and Timberlake are among the founders of Nexus Luxury Collection, an international hospitality and asset management company, along with golf pro Ernie Els and Joe Lewis. The joint venture is called Wellington Lifestyle Partners.
The venture was made possible when Palm Beach Polo Inc. sold its 18-hole Cypress golf course to a company owned by Bellissimo for $35 million, according to Golfweek. Wellington is known as “The Equestrian Capital of the World” and hosts the Winter Equestrian Festival each year. The project, called The Wellington, will include shops, hotels, offices, a park, restaurants and a public riding facility with trail riding. The Wellington is also slated to have a racquet center with a pro shop, a stadium tennis court, 12 additional tennis courts and 12 pickleball courts among other features.
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“The Wellington Equestrian Partners was formed in early 2006, with three partners—myself, Dennis Dammerman and Roger Smith,” Bellissimo said in a 2019 interview with The Chronicle of the Horse. “Our vision was to transform Wellington from a town with a large horse show to a community with a vibrant equestrian industry that would include a world-class Showgrounds, enhanced lifestyle options and a family-friendly offering that would be integrated into the community. The core of strategy was to capture the energy and passion surrounding the horse and create a family-friendly world centered around this great animal. We later expanded the partnership to include a diverse group of 10 families. The common denominator of all these families is their love of horses and a passion for Wellington and the equestrian lifestyle.”
Paige Bellissimo, Mark Bellissimo’s daughter, is managing the development of the project and said a move like this is important for Wellington to stay competitive against self-contained venues. “There is a real opportunity here to create something really special with a holistic view of the 600 acres we own,” she said. “And, plan it in a way that is more meaningful and lasting versus the alternative of a piecemeal developer who could maximize individual parcels.”
