The biggest public housing community in West Palm Beach is on the brink of a $44 million redevelopment, the city’s housing authority says.
Dunbar Village, which received national media attention for a brutal gang rape that took place there in 2007, will take in its first tenants for nine new townhouse units in August. The completion of the $1 million Sabal Palm Place project will wrap up the first of three phases.
The second phase calls for the construction of two, three-story buildings exclusively for the elderly. The Paul Laurence Dunbar Senior Complex will cost $21 million and include 99 units for heads of household 62 years old and up. The cost of the complex is expected to be covered with a privately-backed HUD loan, tax-exempt bonds and a state loan.
Silver Palm Place, the project’s third phase, would replace the 17 buildings currently on the site with 120 multifamily units in garden-style apartments. Though it hasn’t gone out to bid and there are no plans for a design, the city housing authority’s executive director Laurel Robinson told the Palm Beach Post the project will be financed with hard-to-get tax credits that have already been secured by the city.
So far, thirteen building with 56 units have been demolished, with 17 more buildings to go. [Palm Beach Post] -Kerry Barger