Four years ago, I had what seemed like a crazy idea.
Build a tropical landscape resort in the United States. Not Costa Rica. Not Bali. Right here at home.
Everyone thought the market only existed overseas, but I knew we could create something incredible domestically.
The journey to get here wasn't easy. A deal we couldn’t get to pencil, the wrong partners, and constant doubt that this vision would ever come to life.
But six months ago, everything changed.
It started years ago with a visit to Southern California.
My business partner at Oasi owns a direct-to-consumer exotic fruit business with a small, beautiful farm between San Diego and LA.
Standing among his tropical fruit trees, we had the same thought: What if we could create a luxury resort around a working exotic fruit farm?
The idea consumed me. I knew this was the future of experiential hospitality.
And for years, I searched for the perfect location.
In reality, the Onera Fredericksburg and Onera Wimberley projects occupied most of my time and were the main focus. This vision got put on the back burner.
But the passion for America's first tropical landscape resort never faded.
I knew South Florida was ideal–one of the only true tropical climates in the US, massive influx of wealth from COVID, and a booming hospitality and wellness hub.
You'd think there would be other operators trying to execute on this prime opportunity…
But there weren't, despite all the factors lining up perfectly.
And we soon found out why.
My first attempt at bringing this vision to life was last year.
I had found the perfect piece of land and the team was pumped.
But we couldn’t get the deal to pencil.
Zoning restrictions meant we needed almost an acre per unit and with sky-high land values, that was almost impossible.
And we realized the partner we had at the time was not going to work out.
All of these factors came together to make my first attempt at building the first tropical landscape resort in the US unsuccessful.
I started to doubt if this would ever happen.
Then I met Steve Turk.
After being on his podcast in 2023, we became fast friends.
Steve had been working on his own vision–a nature retreat with agritourism on a family friend's exotic fruit farm.
It was a different scope than mine. He was going a more glamping, agritourism route and I was envisioning a luxury landscape resort.
Because of this, we pushed ahead working on our own projects.
But fast forward to January of this year when I was in Miami for a conference…
Steve had been working hard to get approval from the county for his project over the past year.
He invited me to see the land.
As we walked through this lush tropical forest, we got to thinking...
Maybe there was a path forward if we joined forces.
From the moment I stepped onto the land, I knew it was something special.
The property is a 25-acre exotic fruit farm in Redland, Florida. Not just any old farm, but a lush paradise only 45 minutes from Miami.
Mature longan, mamey sapote, papaya, and banana trees. The kind of place you'd expect in Southeast Asia.
I left knowing this was "it."
And a deal would be win-win for everyone involved…
The family who owned this land wanted to make it a generational asset. But they were breaking even farming and renting a fraction of it to a nursery for pennies.
All with property taxes rising due to the increasing land values.
By locking in a 99-year land lease with them…
We would get to bring our vision to life at a fraction of the cost, while still being able to secure traditional debt financing and sell the property at a cap rate.
And the family would have a way to continue farming while drastically increasing the value of their land and creating an asset that could be passed down to future generations.
A few weeks later, my trusted development partners flew down to see it themselves.
Walking through this lush tropical forest felt surreal.
White coral limestone perfect for grottos. Rows of exotic fruit trees. Lush tropical vegetation.
Exactly what I had imagined.
We ended up knocking out partnership terms within days.
And now I get to introduce you to a project I've dreamed of for 4 years:
- 20 Bali-inspired villas nestled among a working tropical fruit farm.
- Natural white coral grottos with crystal-clear water.
- An indoor-outdoor wellness center with a spa and gym.
- A farm-to-table cafe with fruit grown steps from your villa.
I've never been more excited about a development team…
Steve brings 30 years of luxury hospitality expertise in Miami at brands like Nobu Hotels and Loews Hotels.
Our GC, Banks Chisum, has brought multiple visions of mine to life, including Onera Wimberley and the expansion to Onera Fredericksburg.
Ed Haynes is America's top glamping and unique structure distributor.
And Brian Luebben founded Action Academy, a business community on track for $1 billion in business acquisitions this year.
This time, my vision has the perfect team.
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Talk Soon,
Ben
Ben Wolff
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