Zom buys land and breaks ground on Azola West Palm apartment community

Orlando-based developer Zom just closed on land and broke ground on its planned 179-unit apartment community in West Palm Beach, property records show.

Azola West Palm Beach Owner LP, an affiliate of Zom, paid $6.5 million for the development site at 8230 Okeechobee Boulevard. Records show it also secured a $21.69 million construction loan from Synovus Bank.

West Palm Beach-based Pina Residential, led by Richard C. Elliott, sold the vacant land. The company paid $1.6 million for the 9-acre site in 2012, records show.

Zom’s 179-unit multifamily development will be called Azola West Palm. Once completed, the apartment community will consist of seven, four-story apartment buildings. Amenities will include a clubhouse, pool, fitness center and dog park.

A representative for Zom could not immediately be reached for comment.

The multifamily developer is also building Solitair Brickell, a 50-story, 438-unit building near Brickell City Centre, and Maizon, a 24-story, mixed-use apartment building in the west Brickell neighborhood.

Average rents for multifamily properties in West Palm Beach have increased 2.5 percent year over year, up to $1,532 a month from $1,410 a month, according to a recent Berkadia report.

In July, New York-based Castle Lanterra Properties bought an apartment community in West Palm Beach for $63.5 million. The 259-unit Loftin Place apartment community was nearly 100 percent occupied at the time of the sale.