Wayne Washington | Palm Beach Post USA TODAY NETWORK
Local government leaders are hailing a new luxury apartment complex in West Palm Beach’s Warehouse District as an important part of the area’s transformation from a neglected stretch of dilapidated buildings to a hip place to work and play.
City officials said the 178-unit District Flats complex, located at 1050 Blanche Street, is the first multi-housing project built in the Warehouse District, roughly located between Elizabeth Avenue and Clare Avenue east of Interstate 95 and west of Flamingo Park. The complex includes 36 units that have been set aside as workforce housing to be rented at discounted rents.
Still, for most people who choose District Flats, rent won’t be cheap.
A 551-square-foot studio in District Flats is listed on the complex’s web site as renting for $1,561 per month. A 982-square-foot two-bedroom, two bathroom apartment goes for $2,426.
If a renter devoted 30 percent of his or her income to rent ? the standard housing experts suggest ? the renter would have to make $61,240 per year to afford the studio and $97,040 to afford the two-bedroom apartment at District Flats.
The median household income in West Palm Beach was $54,334, according to 2019 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Despite the rental rates, city officials were glad for the additional units.
They and officials from the complex’s designers and builders ? Verdex Construction and Eastwind Development ? celebrated completion of the project Thursday evening poolside with cocktails and food, music, sparklers and a juggler.
Celebrants wore masks as they entered the building, but, with news that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had advised that people fully vaccinated against the coronavirus could dispense with mask-wearing, many took their masks off as the evening went on.
Mayor Keith James remembered the project’s 18-month construction timeline.
“It seems like a lifetime ago with COVID and everything,” he joked.
James said District Flats changes the nature of the Warehouse District.
“What this does is it adds residents to the mix,” he said. “Now, it becomes a real neighborhood. It adds a whole different level of character.”
James said he was especially pleased that some of the units will be rented at discounted rates. “One of the things we have a shortage of are moderately priced or even lower than moderately priced housing,” he said, adding that affordable housing “continues to be a priority of mine.”
In February, renters began moving into the building, which is 50 percent occupied. The remaining units are expected to be rented out by September.
District Flats is about a quarter mile from the Grandview Public Market, which itself has been seen as an important addition to the Warehouse District. The building site was once a construction storage site that was largely vacant. Builders had to rip up an old rail line to clear the site for construction.
Narrow streets and a relatively small site footprint complicated development. Standing in the building’s luxurious lobby, Eastwind President Jack Weir toasted completion of the project.
“In many ways, this is a signature project for us,” he said, adding that construction took 18 months and was completed on time and under budget. “We are excited to be a part of the Warehouse District.”