The Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners approved a package of projects recommended from the county's housing bond request-for-proposal process on December 1, while denying or postponing several others after lengthy debate over scoring, leverage and cost-per-unit.

Staff said six affordable projects were recommended for approval, requesting approximately $54 million in county loans to produce roughly 770 county-assisted units at an average county investment of $70,238 per unit. Workforce housing proposals produced two responsive projects for consideration; the board reviewed both workforce and affordable proposals in a combined session (staff presentation: SEG 2610-2770; project details: SEG 2648-2707).

Among the recommended projects were WAVE at Potomac, Residences at Country Grove and Arise in Lake Worth Beach; staff also detailed projects not recommended because their county investment per unit exceeded scoring thresholds. Staff cited leverage and cost-per-unit as key scoring drivers, and noted some projects had higher total project costs because of vertical construction, parking and on-site commercial space.

Seventh on Haverhill (a 101-unit project) narrowly failed staff's scoring threshold due to a miscommunication about counting density-bonus units; developer representatives said they would commit to making all 101 units affordable and restricted for 50 years if the board would allow reconsideration. A developer representative said "A 100%" when asked if they would commit all units to affordability (SEG 2826-2833). The board agreed to allow Seventh on Haverhill to be brought back in January for rehearing rather than permanently denying it.

CityView, a mixed-use senior project that includes project-based rental assistance, was discussed at length; staff and scoring committees had treated its higher construction costs (including prevailing-wage requirements tied to rental assistance) as part of total project cost, which hurt its leverage score. Representatives stressed CityView would provide deep senior affordability; the board denied that project in this cycle (staff recommended denial; the board's action reflected staff recommendations for some items and gave developers the opportunity to resubmit projects that were denied without prejudice).

Commissioner Weiss moved to approve the staff-recommended projects, to deny those not meeting thresholds without prejudice, and to require Seventh on Haverhill to return in January for reconsideration; the motion passed on a roll-call vote (one recorded dissent by Vice Mayor Woodward on the package vote). Staff said underwriting would be the next step for approved projects and would return to the board for final approvals after underwriting.

Developers and community leaders urged approval and stressed urgency for housing. The Housing Leadership Council urged flexibility and suggested ways to increase for-sale production and non-profit developer access to subsidies for smaller for-sale projects. Several commissioners asked staff to parse nonresidential costs from total project costs during underwriting and to return with clearer breakout of residential versus commercial components.

The board approved the recommended projects and directed staff to proceed with underwriting; denied projects were left without prejudice so developers can revise and resubmit in the next RFP cycle or sooner if staff can accelerate timelines.