An apartment building will rise on Australian Avenue in West Palm Beach.
Agents for The Breakers Palm Beach resort have shared plans for a 155-unit, eight story apartment building across the bridge on Australian Avenue in West Palm Beach.
Tyler Woolsey of Urban Design Studio presented the project Tuesday as part of a successful bid for rezoning and a land use change from the West Palm Beach Planning Board.
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Developers are assembling about 2.5 acres on the east side of Australian north of Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard for a housing campus that will accommodate many of The Breakers’ 2,400 employees.
A rendering for the 155-apartment project shows an eight-story building with balconies. Residents will have access to an outdoor pool and a sports field. Inside, the amenities will include a business center, clubroom, fitness center, salon and conference room. The complex will offer shuttle service to the historic Renaissance Revival resort and shopping.
Fifty-one percent of the units would be designated for workforce housing. That could qualify the project for development fee reductions or waivers. West Palm Beach is also committed to make vacant city-owned lots available for projects like these.
In addition to hundreds of local residents and college students, The Breakers employed 249 people who were in the country under H-2B guest worker visas as of September 2024.
The co-applicant, VDG Land Co., paid $4.5 million in January for two properties east of Australian amounting to 1.3 acres.
In February, the City Commission declared a little more than an acre of adjacent property, at 2410 N. Australian, as surplus. That opens the door for VDG to buy it. The southern third of the city property contains underground utilities, a lift station and overhead power lines, which make it a challenge to develop on its own.
The project goes to the City Commission to approve the sale of the city land and a workforce housing agreement.
This story was originally published by Stet News Palm Beach, a WLRN News partner.
