Developer Neighborlee Living, led by Kurt Jetta, has received approval from Palm Beach County to build a four-story, 38-unit affordable apartment complex featuring micro-units as small as 240 square feet. The project, called Neighborlee Living Westgate, was approved at a zoning hearing and will be located at 2818 Westgate Avenue in unincorporated Palm Beach County near West Palm Beach. The area is overseen by the Westgate Community Redevelopment Agency.
Jetta stated that the primary target for these apartments is recent college graduates. Micro-units are becoming more common in new developments across the country as cities look for ways to address housing affordability. For example, in Miami’s Allapattah neighborhood, developers Lyle Stern and Kerry Newman have proposed a 400-unit project that includes 40 micro-units. In Seattle, micro-units make up a significant portion of planned apartments.
Neighborlee Living Westgate will include 26 micro-units of 240 square feet each, ten studios of 360 square feet, and two one-bedroom units of 538 square feet. Most units are designated for renters earning between 60 percent and 80 percent of the area median income (AMI), which is $104,000 in Palm Beach County as of 2024.
According to information on Neighborlee’s website, monthly rents will be $1,200 for micro-units, $1,600 for studios, and $2,000 for one-bedroom units. Studios and one-bedrooms will also offer a $250 monthly voucher to help with childcare expenses.
West Palm Beach currently has many residential projects underway; however, most cater to higher-income tenants. For instance, Related Ross’ Laurel tower offers one-bedroom apartments 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 while revenue per square foot tends to be higher in micro-units compared to traditional apartments, developing affordable housing remains financially challenging due to construction costs.
“We were taken aback by the costs [of construction],” he said.
This development marks Jetta’s first project in Palm Beach County. He observed that despite good intentions among those involved in the approval process, regulatory steps can still 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.”
