Micro apartments offering lower rents get zoning OK

WEST PALM BEACH — With downtown rents rising, a plan to build the area’s smallest apartments — with proportionately lower rents — won approval Wednesday.

The Downtown Action Committee, which regulates development in the cit y core, green-lighted zoning for developer Jeff Greene to build 348 “micro unit” apartments of about 450 square feet.

The proposed building at Banyan Boulevard and Rosemary Avenue is meant to attract millennials put off by downtown’s high rents, and out-of-town visitors and professionals looking for a well-located pied-a-terre. Greene said he hopes to charge under $1,000 a month, about 30 percent less than typical downtown rents.

City zoning rules required that apartments be no smaller than 550 square feet and that the buildings provide one parking space per unit. The board voted to allow units of 300 to 549 square feet and one parking space for every Have a West Palm Beach news tip? Contact Staff Writer Tony Doris at tdoris@pbpost.com or 561-820-4703.

two micro apartments.

“Market trends and the possibility to provide some affordable units within the core of the downtown support the proposed change to allow smaller units,” Ana Maria Aponte, the city’s senior urban design planner, told the board.

The measure passed with only one vote in opposition, by Joseph Crossen, who said the concept should be implemented on a trial basis before opening the door to reduced parking requirements.

Aponte said the parking reduction fit in with c i t y effor ts to encourage mass transit, bic ycling and transportation alternatives.

The approval required a contribution of $10 per unit per month to support the city trolley sys-