Wellington Equestrian Partners, Owners of the Global Dressage Festival, Announces “Wellington 3.0” I

Wellington, FL – August 3, 2022 – Mark Bellissimo, managing partner of Wellington Equestrian Partners, LLC (WEP), announced an initiative to transform Wellington into the “Equestrian Capital of the World” for sport, commerce, and lifestyle. 2022 was a record year for jumping, dressage, and polo in Wellington. The events attracted more than 5,000 families from 50 states and 43 countries and contributed an estimated $200 million of annual economic impact to Palm Beach County. With success, come challenges and need for re-invention driven by the growth of the events, new market demands, new competitors, and the significant migration of full-time residents to South Florida driven by Covid.

• The jumping and dressage events are rapidly outgrowing their venues and require significant improvements to support demand and to elevate quality standards. If not addressed, competitors with newer, larger venues will challenge Wellington’s stature as the premier destination. Our equestrian venues and the events are at the core of our success.

• Equestrian Village, the current home of dressage and specialty showjumping events, is not ideally located, creating operational conflicts and inefficiencies of moving thousands of people and hundreds of horses across Pierson and South Shore daily throughout the winter. This dynamic creates high levels of unnecessary traffic conflicts and inconveniences to both participants and residents who traverse Pierson and South Shore Blvd.

• Significant lack of integrated residential options. The vast majority of Wellington’s housing options were built before 2000 and Wellington is almost at full build-out. There is high demand and limited inventory for a broad range of golf-cart accessible residences which would enhance event experiences, reduce traffic, and draw more participants and residents.

• There are limited commercial lifestyle options including restaurants, hotels, co-shared office space, and retail options that support the world-class nature of the events. To compete with other venues and communities we need to enhance our offerings as quickly as possible to present the finest experience for our participants and a provide a platform to engage all Wellington residents.