Riviera Beach launched an affordable housing project last week in its booming Marina District off Broadway.
Villa L’Onz will be on 11th Street and Avenue E on the city’s south end, one block west of Broadway.
- The first phase will be a $7.5 million development with 12 two- and three-bedroom townhouses.
- An identical row of townhouses will follow to the north.
- Then, builders will begin to construct 30 apartment-style condominiums and space for a store.
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It’s an important step because Palm Beach County has an affordable and workforce housing crisis, the county’s Housing and Leadership Council said last year.
- Home prices and rents continue to rise at a pace that outstrips the increase in workforce income and challenges the ability to retain and attract workers.
- The county got voter permission to borrow $200 million to help developers build more affordable homes.
The project’s partners, the Riviera Beach CRA and the city’s Community Development Corp., are investing $3 million and have borrowed $4.5 million to get Villa L’Onz off the ground, CDC Executive Director Annetta Jenkins said.
Villa L’Onz borrows its name from the Creole language and translates to “Homes on 11th.”
Building affordable housing in this market is incredibly difficult, Jenkins said at a groundbreaking Friday. “You know how difficult it is to find insurance,” she said as an example of the challenges. “When I got the bill for the builders’ risk for this project, I almost fainted. But we had to pay it.”
Villa L’Onz was designed by REG Architects of West Palm Beach with a Dutch-Caribbean architectural style that pays homage to Riviera Beach’s heritage.
- The development includes rear-facing garages that open onto an alley.
- Front stoops encourage community and contribute to walkability. There will be new sidewalks and on-street parking.
“It’s really an amazing time to be working here,” REG Architects President Rick Gonzalez said Friday. He noted that Riviera Beach has more than a dozen high-rises planned for on or near Broadway.its downtown.
Villa L’Onz will contribute to plans to revitalize the north-south Avenue E corridor.
- The city has been planning for years to build its new city hall a few blocks north, between Broadway and Avenue E.
The Villa L’Onz townhomes are planned across Avenue E from a 508-unit condominium recently approved by the Planning Commission at Broadway between 11th and 12th streets.
- The mammoth project will be buffered from Villa D’Onz by a park-like strip along Avenue E.
All-Site Construction of West Palm Beach is the general contractor. “I live, work, play and pray in Riviera Beach,” All-Site President Ezra Saffold said at the groundbreaking.
Villa L’Onz is one of four housing developments All-Site is working on in the city, he said. He expects the first townhouses to be ready by the end of 2026.
This story was originally published by Stet News Palm Beach, a WLRN News partner.
