Developer Neighborlee Living, led by Kurt Jetta, has received approval from Palm Beach County for a four-story, 38-unit affordable apartment building featuring micro-units as small as 240 square feet. The project, named Neighborlee Living Westgate, was approved during a zoning hearing and will be located at 2818 Westgate Avenue in unincorporated Palm Beach County near West Palm Beach. This area is overseen by the Westgate Community Redevelopment Agency.
Jetta stated that the primary renters targeted for this development are recent college graduates. Micro-units have become increasingly common in planned apartment projects across the country. For example, in Miami’s Allapattah neighborhood, developers Lyle Stern and Kerry Newman have proposed a 400-unit project under the Live Local Act that will include 40 micro-units. In Seattle, reports indicate that about two-thirds of new apartments planned are micro-units.
The Neighborlee Living Westgate development will consist of 26 micro-units at 240 square feet each, ten studios at 360 square feet each, and two one-bedroom units at 538 square feet each. Most of these units are designated for renters earning between 60 percent and 80 percent of Palm Beach County’s area median income (AMI), which is $104,000 as of 2024.
According to information on Neighborlee’s website, rents for the micro-units will be $1,200 per month. Studios will rent for $1,600 and one-bedroom units for $2,000 per month. The studios and one-bedroom apartments also include a $250 monthly voucher to help with childcare costs.
West Palm Beach currently has thousands of residential units under development; however, most are intended for luxury tenants. For instance, Related Ross’ Laurel apartment tower opened last year with one-bedroom rents starting at $3,500 per month.
“I’ve always been wired to pay attention to the people making $50,000 and below,” Jetta said. “I just felt like they were underserved and misunderstood.”
Jetta noted that revenue per square foot tends to be higher in micro-units compared to traditional apartments but acknowledged the challenges involved in developing affordable housing due to high construction costs. “We were taken aback by the costs [of construction],” he said.
This marks Jetta’s first development project in Palm Beach County. After receiving approval for his proposal, he reflected on how regulatory processes can slow down efforts to increase affordable housing supply: “We never ran into some cumbersome regulation,” he said. “Everybody’s well-meaning, everybody’s doing their job, but still, you don’t get the affordable housing output people want to see.”
