A workforce apartment complex is coming to West Palm Beach’s historic northwest neighborhood, with plans to offer rents far below the city’s average rate.
Fort Lauderdale-based Affiliated Development, led by Jeff Burns and Nick Rojo, received approval from the West Palm Beach CRA Board and City Commission for a $9 million grant to go forward with the 289-unit, eight-story mixed-use project known as The Grand.
Rents at the apartment complex will start at $1,100 per month for a one-bedroom. That’s much less than the average Class A multifamily rent in West Palm Beach, which averaged $1,456 per month in the third quarter of 2019, according to a report from Berkadia.
The property was difficult to assemble since it was composed of 18 different contiguous parcels, according to Rojo. “We had to assemble all of them one by one,” he said.
Construction for The Grand is expected to begin in late 2020 and will take about 20 months to build, according to a release. The project is estimated to cost about $71 million. In addition to the grant and a $1 million loan from the city’s department of housing and community development, the developer will seek bank financing, Rojo said.
First responders, police officers and teachers will have the first chance to rent at the property, he said. Sixty days after opening, renting will open to the public.
The Grand’s name comes from the Grand Theatre, which operated as an African-American theater from 1930 to 1955 on a nearby property.
Amenities at the project will include a resort-style pool with cabanas, outdoor game lawn, a gated, off-leash dog park, community room, movie theater, fitness facility with yoga and spin studio, wellness facility and concierge service. It will also include a commercial space on the ground floor.
Affiliated Development is more than half finished with a 142-unit mixed-use apartment project in Fort Lauderdale named The Six13, along historic Sistrunk Boulevard. This week, the company also broke-ground on a 230-unit apartment project called The Mid on 16th Avenue & North Dixie Highway in Lake Worth Beach.