Navarro Lowrey plans a mixed-income multifamily project near the Brightline station in downtown West Palm Beach. 

The developer wants to build an 88-unit building with 4,300 square feet of retail on the roughly half-acre property on the southwest corner of Clematis Street and Quadrille Plaza Drive, according to city records. The development site consists of a large parcel at 512 Clematis Street that Navarro Lowrey owns, and a smaller adjacent city-owned strip at 500 Clematis Street. 

City commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved the sale of the 25-foot strip of public land at 500 Clematis Street to the developer. The vote amounts to a deal between West Palm Beach and Navarro Lowrey: The developer gets the small parcel for a nominal $10 payment to the city, but in exchange Navarro Lowrey has to include workforce units in the project. 

Thirteen of the units will be designated for households earning no more than 100 percent of the area median income, which in Broward County is $82,100 a year, according to the city and the Florida Housing Finance Corporation. Navarro Lowrey would be on the hook for $500,000 if the firm fails to include workforce units or doesn’t start construction within nine months of pulling a building permit, city records show. 

The project marks a new chapter for the site that used to be home to once-popular music venue and local gathering spot Spanky’s. The bar closed over a decade ago and was razed.

In September, an affiliate of West Palm Beach-based Navarro Lowrey bought the 512 Clematis Street site from an entity led by Matthew Smith for $5.3 million, records show. 

In downtown West Palm, developers have largely focused on high-end office buildings and market-rate rentals — instead of mixed-income housing. 

Stephen Ross’ Related Companies, the biggest office landlord downtown, is developing the 25-story One Flagler at the foot of the Royal Park Bridge, overlooking the Lake Worth Lagoon. In January, Related also scored approval for its sixth downtown office building, the 25-story 515 Fern on the northwest corner of Fern Street and the Florida East Coast Railway tracks. 

Last summer, 13th Floor Investments, led by Arnaud Karsenti, and Wexford Real Estate Investors filed plans for the 25-story, 372-unit Residences of Palm Beach West apartment building between Fern and Gardenia streets, and between Quadrille Boulevard and South Dixie Highway. 

South Florida’s multifamily market boomed over the past two years and a half, leading landlords to increase rents by record percentages. In March of last year, the tri-county region led the nation with a 58 percent rent hike for the two-year period from March 2020. Rate increases have slowed, with the region experiencing a  4.7 percent hike in December, year-over-year, according to Realtor.com.