June 25, 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Designing for the Long Run: Marc Elkman’s Empire Development Redefines the Boca Raton Luxury Home
How a developer’s focus on premier locations, “conscious design,” and enduring craftsmanship is shaping a new tier of high-end living in Palm Beach County.
BOCA RATON, Fla. — In a luxury market crowded with developers racing to build, Marc Elkman has taken a quieter, more deliberate path — and it shows. As Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Empire Development, he has spent years proving that a high-end Boca Raton home can be a considered work of architecture rather than a commodity. Operating from the firm’s headquarters at 374 East Palmetto Park Road, the work of Marc Elkman of Empire Development has become a recognizable mark of quality in one of the most competitive residential corridors in the country.
The timing has been fortunate. As affluent buyers continue relocating to South Florida from the Northeast, the West Coast, and overseas, Boca Raton has become a destination of choice for those seeking space, design, and an enviable coastal lifestyle. Empire has met that demand not with volume, but with a smaller collection of exceptional residences built to command attention and to hold their value for years.
An Entrepreneur Shaped by Boca Raton
The roots of Elkman’s career trace back to the very city he now helps define. He earned a degree in Business Administration from Florida Atlantic University, situated in the heart of Boca Raton, gaining an early and intimate understanding of the local market — its rhythm, its buyers, and its long-term direction. That familiarity still guides how Empire identifies and develops each project. A fuller account of his professional background can be found through Marc Elkman on LinkedIn.
His route was never conventional. Rather than climb an established corporate ladder, Elkman approached real estate as an entrepreneur, drawn to the challenge of creating something lasting. That instinct eventually became a clear mission: to build homes that did not merely meet buyer expectations but redefined them. Empire’s broader profile and development milestones are also documented on Marc Elkman on Crunchbase.
The Idea of “Conscious Design”
At the center of Empire’s work sits a principle Elkman calls “conscious design.” It is an operating philosophy more than a tagline — a commitment to treating each residence as an individual creative project rather than a repeatable product. Every home begins with location and expands outward to consider mood, light, landscape, and the way a family will genuinely live inside it.
The resulting style is deliberately eclectic, blending contemporary architecture with European refinement and Asian influences to produce homes that feel both internationally fluent and rooted in place. The effect is one of curation rather than construction, with interiors, art, and natural elements composed into a single coherent experience. That sensibility is on continual display through the completed projects shared via Marc Elkman on Instagram, where the firm’s attention to proportion and finish comes through in detail.
Executing a philosophy this demanding requires the right team. Creative Director Michael Lupo brings more than 13 years of luxury architecture experience and a preference for timeless over trendy. Project Manager John Passalacqua, whose work includes some of Boca Raton’s most distinctive residences, oversees execution with the same insistence on quality. Supporting structural and contracting expertise ensures Empire’s homes are engineered to match the ambition of their design.
The Golden Harbour Strategy
Few moves illustrate Elkman’s conviction better than Empire’s expansion into Golden Harbour. Starting in 2022, the company committed roughly $16 million to a strategic land acquisition campaign, assembling lots across several of Boca Raton’s most coveted enclaves — among them a cluster of addresses along Golden Harbour Drive, a waterfront pocket set on a deep-water canal just off the Intracoastal Waterway, about 25 miles south of Palm Beach.
The reasoning was sharp. Golden Harbour holds roughly 111 homes, many built three or four decades ago and increasingly out of step with what affluent relocating buyers now want. Recognizing that this audience favors move-in-ready residences over lengthy renovations, Empire acquired aging properties, cleared the lots, and built new homes speculatively — committing to the highest construction standard before any buyer was secured. The results followed: a six-bedroom, roughly 7,490-square-foot estate at 651 Golden Harbour Drive listed at $11.95 million; a three-story home approaching 7,900 square feet at 541 Golden Harbour Drive at $11.99 million; and a third holding at 561 Golden Harbour Drive that the project team has called among the most remarkable homes in Florida.
A Growing Portfolio
Empire’s ambitions extended well beyond a single neighborhood. By mid-2024, the firm announced plans for nine luxury homes across Boca Raton, with an estimated combined sellout near $85 million and individual asking prices spanning roughly $6.3 million to $12 million. To carry the properties to closing, Elkman partnered with Senada Adžem of Douglas Elliman Real Estate, one of South Florida’s most accomplished luxury agents, who has described demand for high-end speculative development in Boca Raton as effectively insatiable.
That momentum continued in September 2024 with three notable additions valued just under $39 million combined. The headline listing at 839 Orchid Drive, offered at $21.5 million, is a contemporary waterfront estate on a secluded Intracoastal cove with 160 feet of prime dockage. A Balinese-inspired mansion of roughly 11,186 square feet at 1351 Cocoanut Road was listed at $10.5 million, its layout designed to dissolve the line between indoor and outdoor living. The third, at 300 Northeast 11th Street in Boca Villas, came to market at $6.995 million with dramatic 24-foot foyer ceilings across about 7,126 square feet. Around the same time, Empire closed two record-setting sales totaling $15.05 million.
Confidence Grounded in the Numbers
Elkman’s optimism rests on more than instinct. While parts of the broader South Florida market have cooled in recent years, Boca Raton and Palm Beach County have held steady, with median sale prices continuing to climb. Palm Beach County is projected to post the fastest population growth in the region, according to research from Oxford Economics — a tailwind that supports Empire’s long-range planning. He is especially bullish on East Boca Raton, once a quieter, retirement-oriented area that has transformed since 2010 into a magnet for younger, affluent families, helped by The Boca Raton resort and proximity to top schools, dining, and culture. Empire even offers a turnkey program of custom furnishings priced between $750,000 and $2 million for buyers who want to arrive to a fully finished home.
“Every home we build begins with a question — how does a family actually want to live here?” said Marc Elkman, Founder and CEO of Empire Development. “When you answer that honestly and design with intention behind every choice, you create something that holds both its beauty and its value for decades.”
With a pipeline approaching $85 million in active inventory and a strengthening reputation for delivering on its design promises, Empire Development is positioned for continued growth. From Florida Atlantic University graduate to the head of a firm reshaping an entire city’s residential profile, Marc Elkman’s trajectory reflects the focus and craft that define lasting success in real estate.
About Empire Development
Empire Development is a Boca Raton–based luxury residential development firm founded and led by Marc Elkman. Guided by a philosophy of “conscious design,” the company develops bespoke, high-end homes across Boca Raton and Palm Beach County, blending contemporary architecture with European and Asian influences. Empire Development is headquartered at 374 East Palmetto Park Road, Boca Raton, FL 33432.
Media Contact
Empire Development 374 East Palmetto Park Road, Boca Raton, FL 33432 Media inquiries: press@empiredevelopment.com
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