Photo: CBS 12
The first new affordable apartment building in downtown West Palm Beach in the last 30 years is now a reality.
The city on Monday announced that Flagler Station has opened and all 94 units are occupied.
It's the result of a public-private partnership with the city and is reserved for those earning no more than 80 percent of the area's median income.
“As you look around this room, you sense that our idea of what affordable housing can and should look be is different, perhaps ambitious,” said Housing Trust Group CEO Matthew Rieger as he showed off the state-of-the-art fitness center, 3,200 square foot club house and rooftop pool.
The high-rise features a mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments and rents run from around $400 to $1,700.
The project took 12-years to complete and cost more than $30 million. Rieger tells CBS 12 News that there is a need for more affordable housing.
“We just need more resources, and it’s not local resources. It’s not even state resources, this is a problem of which the size and scope is such that we need federal resources to really make a dent."
The apartments are on Tamarind Avenue and Banyan Boulevard, near the city's Tri-Rail and Amtrak station. In fact, it's named after Henry Flagler and includes some of the original, now defunct FEC Railroad tracks. They were incorporated into the development of a linear park, featuring original artwork and murals.