WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The city of West Palm Beach is getting more low-cost homes.
The city council recently approved an agreement between the city and Affiliated Development to build a large housing complex in Northwood Village with money from a grant for workforce housing.
The building will have eight stories and 270 apartments, 80 of which will be set aside for people who work in the area.
Nick Rojo, president and co-founder of Affiliated Development, said, “Our real goal is to solve the affordability crisis in South Florida.”
The name of the new building will be the Spruce.
Rojo said that the city council agreed to give the company a $2.5 million grant that will be paid out over the next three years. The grant will go toward the $80 million cost of the project. The company will also get fee reductions, waivers, and other tax breaks.
Rojo said, “We have to work with cities and, in some cases, the state to get subsidies so we can lower our costs and still build these projects.”
The project will be built on a piece of empty land near Spruce Avenue, between 24th and 25th streets.
Residents who make between 80% and 100% of the city’s typical income will be able to live in the affordable housing units. Some of the units will cost as little as $1,400 a month.
It will have an outdoor pool and other features that everyone can use, no matter how much money they have.
Rojo said, “We’re getting pickleball courts, a spin and yoga studio, and an off-leash dog park. A lot of our tenants have pets, and we’re a pet-friendly building.”
Affiliated Development hopes to start building in the fall of this year and have it ready to move into by the middle of 2025.
The company also worked with the city on a housing project called the Grand on Rosemary Avenue in the Northwest neighborhood of the city. It has 309 units, and two-thirds of them are for people who work in the area. The house is being rented out right now, and it will open in May.
