City approves land sale and zoning to enable Breakers employee housing campus at North Australian Avenue

The West Palm Beach City Commission on Sept. 15 approved ordinances and agreements to sell city-owned land at 2410 North Australian Avenue to VDG Land Company and to change the site's future land use and zoning to permit a 155-unit employee housing campus for The Breakers Palm Beach. Interim Housing and Community Development Director Kimberly Spence presented the package, which included a purchase-and-sale agreement and a workforce housing agreement. Spence said the city's parcel is approximately 1.16 acres, currently zoned recreation open space, and has physical constraints including underground utilities and a sanitary sewer tie to an adjacent city lift station. The city declared the parcel surplus by Resolution 39-25 in February 2025 to allow negotiation with the adjacent owner, VDG Land Company. Under the agreements presented, the Breakers employee housing campus will include 155 residential units (studios through three-bedroom units) and a community pool and surface parking. The project will use the city's affordable workforce housing overlay and a density bonus; the overlay requires that bonus units be restricted at or below 120% of area median income (AMI) and specifies affordability tiers. For this project the developer committed 79 workforce-restricted unitsexceeding the 39 units required by the overlayincluding six units at 60% AMI (very low income). Spence said all workforce-restricted units will be under deed restrictions for 30 years. Spence also summarized valuation and pricing: two appraisals returned values of $1,260,000 and $660,000 (average $960,000); the negotiated purchase price is $660,000, a figure staff said reflects the constrained developability and the additional affordability commitments. Deputy City Attorney Nancy Erczyk explained that portions of the parcel are encumbered by utility, access and drainage easements to preserve city lift station access; those encumbrances reduce standalone buildability and informed the negotiations. Commissioners asked for operational details. Spence and developer representatives said workforce rents will follow HUD and Florida Housing schedules and vary by AMI tier; staff gave a range with a lowest studio rent estimated at $1,228 and two-bedroom rents up to $3,156 (the developer noted two people in a two-bedroom would typically split rent, about $1,500 per person). The developer committed to a local workforce plan to hire at least 15% of on-site construction workers from city residents and to arrange shuttle transportation for employees to reduce added vehicle trips. On first reading the commission approved Ordinance 5143-25 (sale of 2410 N. Australian Ave.) and separately approved a future land use amendment (Ordinance 5140-25) and rezoning to MF-32 (Ordinance 5141-25) to accommodate the project; planning staff recommended approval and the planning board had recommended approval with a condition that the special site plan receive final commission determination. All three readings passed unanimously at the meeting; second readings will follow as required by city code.