Jacksonville-based Dream Finders Homes Inc. is part of a joint venture with South Street Partners that bought the Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa and Cabana Beach Club in Ponte Vedra Beach.
The Daily Record reported the $148.04 million sale Nov. 5, the day it was recorded with St. Johns County Clerk of Court.
South Street Partners announced the acquisition in a news release Nov. 6. The deed shows it bought the property Nov. 4.
The joint venture said it “will focus on significantly elevating the Resort offerings, with plans for a comprehensive renovation.”
“The acquisition of Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa is a perfect complement to our existing hotel portfolio of exceptional properties located in high-growth, Southeastern markets with A+ locations,” said Henry Armistead, principal of South Street Partners, in the release.
South Street Partners owns luxury golf course resorts, including Kiawah Partners in Kiawah Island, South Carolina; Naples Grande Beach Resort in Naples; PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens; and The King and Prince Beach & Golf Resort in St. Simons Island, Georgia.
Records show South Street Partners acquired the properties through DFH-SSP TPC M Propco LLC. The other investors were not shown in the court records.
The release said the joint venture acquiring the property includes Pat Battle, executive chairman of Diamond Baseball Holdings, and select joint venture equity partners.
New York-based Diamond Baseball Holdings owns 45 minor league baseball teams.
Dream Finders Homes is led by Patrick Zalupski, who bought the Major League Baseball Tampa Bay Rays with a group in September.
South Street Partners says it is a private equity real estate investment firm headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Charleston, South Carolina, with more than $2.7 billion of assets under management.
South Street Partners said the acquisition financing was provided by BDT & MSD Partners’ affiliated funds. The merchant bank is headquartered in Chicago and New York.
The release said the Sawgrass Marriott has 351 hotel rooms, 163 villas, about 114,000 square feet of meeting space, nine on-site food and beverage outlets, and a 25,000-square-foot full-service spa and fitness facility.
The Sawgrass Marriott, at 1000 TPC Blvd., is next to TPC Sawgrass Golf Club, home of The Stadium Course and The Players Championship golf tournament. TPC Sawgrass is owned by the PGA Tour, but Marriott guests are offered exclusive privileges with the golf complex.
The sale includes the Cabana Beach Club, the oceanfront property at 619 Ponte Vedra Blvd.
Cabana Beach Club, built in 1983, is a private resort open to members and hotel guests. The release said the club has 700 members.
It has the first-floor Sea Porch restaurant, a pool, spa and a private beach.
In 2023, the restaurant was renamed 1912 Ocean Bar & Rooftop and is open to the public. It is Ponte Vedra’s first rooftop bar.
Armistead said the report would be the inaugural investment for South Street’s SSP GP Fund II.
SSP GP Funds are real estate private equity funds managed by South Street Partners.
“South Street acts as a principal investment platform as well as an operating partner and co-investor for institutional partners interested in special situations, opportunistic and value-add real estate investments in the Southeast and Sunbelt regions as well as other select continental US and international market,” the release said.