Developer Neighborlee Living, led by Kurt Jetta, has received approval from Palm Beach County to build a four-story, 38-unit affordable apartment complex featuring micro-units as small as 240 square feet. The project, called Neighborlee Living Westgate, was approved at a zoning hearing on Thursday and will be located at 2818 Westgate Avenue in unincorporated Palm Beach County near West Palm Beach. The site falls within the area managed by the Westgate Community Redevelopment Agency.
Jetta said that recent college graduates are the primary target for these units. Micro-units have become more common in planned apartment developments across the country as cities look for solutions to housing affordability challenges. For example, a Miami project proposed by Lyle Stern and Kerry Newman will include 40 micro-units out of 400 total apartments. In Seattle, micro-units make up about two-thirds of all planned apartments.
Neighborlee Living Westgate will consist of 26 micro-units at 240 square feet each, 10 studios at 360 square feet, and two one-bedroom units at 538 square feet. Most units are designated for renters earning between 60 percent and 80 percent of the area median income (AMI), which is $104,000 in Palm Beach County as of 2024.
According to Neighborlee’s website, rents will be set at $1,200 per month for micro-units, $1,600 for studios, and $2,000 for one-bedrooms. The studios and one-bedroom apartments will also include a $250 monthly voucher to help with childcare expenses.
While thousands of new residential units are being developed in West Palm Beach, most cater to higher-income tenants. For instance, Related Ross’ Laurel tower offers one-bedroom apartments starting at $3,500 per month.
“I’ve always been wired to pay attention to the people making $50,000 and below,” Jetta said. “I just felt like they were underserved and misunderstood.”
Jetta noted that while revenue per square foot is higher in micro-units compared to traditional apartments, building affordable housing remains financially challenging. “We were taken aback by the costs [of construction],” he said.
This marks Jetta’s first development in Palm Beach County. He described his experience with the approval process: “We never ran into some cumbersome regulation,” he said. “Everybody’s well-meaning, everybody’s doing their job, but still, you don’t get the affordable housing output people want to see.”
