Related Ross Wins Zoning Approval for eVTOL Vertistop at West Palm Beach's CityPlace Hibiscus Garage
Why It MattersVertiport development is advancing through local zoning and state-level funding groundwork well ahead of FAA commercial approval, meaning ground infrastructure and aircraft certification are progressing on separate, uncoordinated timelines.
What happened
Related Ross, the development firm led by Steve Ross, has secured a zoning change from West Palm Beach allowing a vertistop to be built atop the CityPlace Hibiscus parking garage within its downtown mixed-use complex. The stop is intended to serve electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft capable of carrying four passengers and a pilot on short-distance routes across South Florida. The facility would not be used by conventional combustion-engine helicopters.
The developer must still submit a formal plan to the city and obtain approval from the FAA before air taxi operations can begin. Related Ross told the city's planning board that the CityPlace vertistop would eventually support multiple eVTOL operators, with a more detailed plan expected in the coming months. "We want to be part of and add as many components to the mobility network as possible," said Jordan Rathlev, executive vice president at Related Ross. "And vertiports and eVTOLs are one of those."
Related Ross announced last year a partnership with Archer Aviation, based in San Jose, to develop a network of air taxi stops in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, and West Palm Beach, targeting connections between business hubs and airports. Other planned locations in the network include vertiports at Hard Rock Stadium — owned by Ross and his Miami Dolphins — and at Dragon Global's Magic City Innovation District in Little Haiti. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis this year signed legislation permitting state funding to be directed toward public eVTOL projects. Some members of the public objected during the approval process, arguing that air flights would not address ground-level traffic problems.
Industry impact & what to watch
This case shows how eVTOL infrastructure is being built out ahead of the aircraft it is meant to serve: cities and developers are approving zoning and site plans for vertistops while the vehicles themselves still lack commercial-use approval. Local approval processes move on a different clock than FAA certification, so a network of physical stops can take shape across Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, and West Palm Beach before a single paying passenger ever boards one.
The multi-operator design of the CityPlace vertistop also points to how these facilities are meant to function more like shared transit infrastructure than a single manufacturer's private terminal — Related Ross has said the site would eventually support multiple eVTOL operators rather than being tied exclusively to Archer Aviation. State funding authority, such as the legislation DeSantis signed this year, adds another layer of momentum independent of federal certification progress.
What happens next depends on two separate tracks converging: Related Ross's formal plan submission and FAA sign-off on the facility, alongside the FAA's separate work toward commercial-use approval for the aircraft themselves, which has not yet been granted despite test flights in California and New York.
