Downtown West Palm Beach workforce housing project scores $53M construction loan

A downtown West Palm Beach apartment project, with the majority of its units planned as workforce housing, scored a $53 million construction loan.

Affiliated Development started building the eight-story Grand, where two-thirds of units will be for residents earning 80 percent or more of the area median income, according to a news release. There will be 301 one- and two-bedroom apartments and nine three-bedroom townhouses with ground-floor retail.

The project at 609 Second Street, is on the west side of North Rosemary Avenue between Second and Third streets. Construction is expected to be completed in spring 2023.

Fort Lauderdale-based Affiliated is a developer and investor led by founders Jeff Burns, CEO, and President Nick Rojo.

The $53 million mortgage from BankUnited supplements various other financing sources. The West Palm Beach Community Redevelopment Agency and the city’s housing & community development department provided $15 million in bridge loans in December 2019, according to the release.

The project also is partly bankrolled by the Affiliated Housing Impact Fund, which in December closed its $125 million capital raise that is financing the firm’s numerous workforce housing projects. Affiliated Development has a pipeline of more than 1,000 workforce housing units throughout South Florida.

The impact fund partly financed the 200-unit, mixed-income Bohemian project in Lake Worth Beach, where 44 of the units will be workforce housing, as well as the 208-unit The Tropic in downtown Hollywood.

Workforce housing is aimed at working class renters, such as teachers or firefighters. Developers increasingly are opting to build workforce-priced units, as they often get partial government financing in return.

Other South Florida workforce projects include Prestige Companies’ three Hialeah projects: Palm Avenue Lofts, Champions Lofts and Poe’s Lofts.