As equestrians gear up for the Hampton Classic Horse Show over Labor Day weekend, celeb developer Joe Farrell has closed on a deal inside the storied Palm Beach Polo Golf & Country Club.

Farrell, who has built more than 500 East End homes for moguls and stars like Madonna, paid $13 million for 23 acres inside the club.

“It’s a private, protected community, where people want to be,” Farrell said. The plan is to build 27 homes, priced from $6 million to $10 million, with construction slated to begin in January. The homes range from 5,000 to 8,000 square feet, on around half an acre each, with delivery planned for October of 2024, Farrell adds. 

PBPC is located in Wellington, Florida, which is known as the “equestrian capital of the world,” where Middle Eastern royals and South American equestrians spend winters. It’s also where Bruce Springsteen’s daughter Jessica and Mike Bloomberg’s daughter Georgina have competed, and where their families have homes, alongside properties owned by Laurene Powell Jobs and Bill Gates.

Farrell tells Gimme he’s also building rental apartments, ranging from $2,200 to $3,000 a month “for middle-class people being squeezed out of their apartments in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm Beach” in Stuart, Punta Gorda and Ft. Pierce, Florida. “There’s a big housing shortage,” said Farrell. In addition, he’s building 100 homes in White Plains, NY, next year.

And, if that’s not enough, Farrell is also at work on a $19.9 million waterfront spec house in Manalapan, Florida, near the homes of Billy Joel and Tony Robbins. The 8,000-square-foot modern house, at 1422 SE Atlantic Drive, comes with a flat roof, a dock and a “crazy roof deck overlooking the water.” It is replacing a $4.2 million tear-down on half an acre. 

During the pandemic, Farrell says, hungry homebuyers gobbled up East End properties, leaving little inventory post-lockdown. Most of Farrell’s business is now outside the Hamptons in states like Florida, where Farrell Companies now has an office in West Palm Beach.