Discovery Land Company, the Arizona-based firm behind the 1,500-acre Atlantic Fields community in Hobe Sound, has named Alicia Goldstein as president of the eastern United States, putting her in charge of a new push into high-rise condo towers across Miami, Jupiter and West Palm Beach. It marks the company's first corporate presence on the East Coast, and a notable shift for a developer that built its name on sprawling, low-density golf enclaves rather than urban towers.
Goldstein brings more than 25 years of experience in luxury residential and mixed-use real estate, hospitality, development, marketing and sales, and has been involved in more than $30 billion worth of projects globally, according to The Real Deal. She previously held senior leadership positions at Related Companies and Access Industries/Faena Group, and founded her own development and investment advisory firm, Chrysos Partners. In her new role, she'll oversee Discovery Land's projects in Hobe Sound, New York and Puerto Rico, while continuing to oversee Playa Grande in the Dominican Republic.
“South Florida presents an opportunity to bring the Discovery brand to the waterfront,” Goldstein said, per the outlet's report. She described Discovery not simply as a golf company but as a broader lifestyle community, and said demand for its South Florida projects will be driven in part by residents already living across the company's existing communities. Discovery currently operates roughly 40 communities worldwide, and this appointment establishes its first true corporate footprint on the East Coast.
Why Towers Instead of Fairways
The shift toward vertical development is largely a function of geography. “Horizontal stretches of land are scarce in South Florida,” Goldstein said, and the same reporting notes that growing appeal as a primary-residence market is fueling Discovery's move into high-rises. Unlike the company's traditional golf-course communities spread across hundreds or thousands of acres, Miami, Jupiter and West Palm Beach offer little room for that kind of horizontal footprint, pushing Discovery toward condo towers paired with private club amenities instead. According to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, condominiums and cooperatives must conduct a Structural Integrity Reserve Study for buildings that are three stories or higher. According to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, associations were required under HB 913 to complete a Structural Integrity Reserve Study by December 31, 2025.
According to the City of Miami, its Miami 21 Code of Ordinances establishes standards and procedures for new development or redevelopment in the city. The City of Miami says the Brickell Bay Drive Seawall and Resiliency Improvements project is intended to protect against future storm surge and sea-level rise while encouraging redevelopment.
That geographic squeeze lines up with a broader trend flagged by The Real Deal, which reported that Discovery's East Coast expansion under Goldstein reflects a strategic pivot toward vertical development in urban markets due to the extreme scarcity of large land tracts in South Florida. It's a marked departure from the company's roots: founded in 1994 by Mike Meldman, who still leads the firm today, Discovery built its reputation on low-density, gated enclaves centered on championship golf, equestrian facilities and outdoor recreation, according to background reporting from Palmer Palm Beach.
The Hobe Sound Blueprint
Atlantic Fields, Discovery's Florida east coast debut, gives a sense of what the company has built when land wasn't scarce. The 1,500-acre Hobe Sound community includes 317 single-family home sites, an 18-hole golf course, a farm, equestrian facilities and wellness amenities, developed in partnership with Becker Holding Corporation. That course opened in late 2025, sharing a main entrance drive with Michael Jordan's private Grove XXIII club, part of a roughly 10-mile cluster of 162 private golf holes designed by top architects, according to Modern Luxury.
Becker Holding was involved in Atlantic Fields' development. Getting Atlantic Fields built at all required a controversial local land-use fight. Martin County commissioners passed a “Rural Lifestyle” comprehensive plan amendment in September 2022 by a 3-2 vote, raising allowed residential density on agricultural land from one unit per 20 acres to one unit per 5 acres, a change environmental groups opposed over fears of sprawl into rural farmland, according to VoteWater.
The state weighed in the following year. In June 2023, Governor Ron DeSantis and the state cabinet affirmed that the Rural Lifestyle amendment complied with state law, finalizing an agreement that included, among other measures, requirements for Atlantic Fields to permanently preserve 800 acres of agricultural land, provide $1 million for public access to Atlantic Ridge Preserve State Park, and restore Hobe Sound's historic train station, according to WQCS. Lot sales inside Atlantic Fields have climbed since: Martin County Property Appraiser records analyzed by Palm Beach Luxury show 144 lot sales, with average recorded prices rising from $6.58 million in 2024 to $7.96 million this year.
An International Résumé
Goldstein's appointment follows a stretch leading the repositioning of Playa Grande Golf & Ocean Club and Amanera Resort in the Dominican Republic, work she took on at the engagement of Third Point, according to a company news release. Playa Grande, where Goldstein worked, is part of a Third Point–Discovery Land partnership.
Discovery's Northeast project, meanwhile, remains Silo Ridge Field Club in Amenia, New York, per Ocean Home. Discovery founder Mike Meldman is also known outside real estate circles as a co-founder of Casamigos Tequila, which he launched with George Clooney and Rande Gerber before the brand was later sold for $1 billion, as Hoodline previously reported.
With Goldstein now steering both the company's established golf communities and its emerging high-rise ambitions, Discovery Land is betting that the same private-club exclusivity that built Atlantic Fields can translate into condo towers along Florida's crowded coastline. Whether buyers in Miami, Jupiter and West Palm Beach respond the way they did in Hobe Sound remains to be seen, but the scale of the company's plans, spanning three Florida markets plus New York and Puerto Rico, suggests Discovery intends to make its urban debut count.
