Index scores approval for 323-unit multifamily project with workforce apartments in West Palm Beach

A developer scored approval for a 323-unit multifamily project in West Palm Beach that will include workforce apartments.

Index Investment Group, a Jupiter-based firm that was founded in Sweden, plans the 12-story Oasis Tower on a 2.2-acre vacant site at 1415 Centrepark Boulevard, according to West Palm Beach’s commission agenda. On Monday, West Palm commissioners unanimously approved the proposal.

Oasis Tower will include 81 units at workforce rents, a nine-story, 549-space garage and four street parking spaces. The project will be within the Centrepark business park, which mostly consists of offices.

Index increased the project’s size from what was previously approved by four stories and 92 apartments, Jon Schmidt, Index’s representative from architecture and urban planning firm Schmidt Nichols, told commissioners. The latest design has 35 more workforce units and removes a previous plan for ground-floor commercial space.

The workforce units will be designated for households earning up to 150 percent of the area median income, according to Index’s Joacim Borg. Palm Beach County’s annual AMI is $111,800, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In 2019, Index’s affiliate paid $2.4 million for the Oasis Tower development site, according to records.

Index, founded in 1998 by Bjarne Borg and Fredrik Alama, is an investment firm that uses private capital and no institutional equity, according to its website. It expanded to North America in 2005, mostly focusing on Florida.

In Jupiter, Index has sought to develop its waterfront site at 401 North Alternate A1A for almost a decade. In 2023, the firm proposed Flagler’s Wharf with a five-story building with offices, a garage and retail, as well as a one-story café and a 13-slip marina. Index is working to secure a new joint venture partner for the project, Joacim Borg said.

Oasis Tower’s approval comes amid a multifamily supply overhang in South Florida.

The influx of out-of-state residents from late 2020 through 2022 led developers to start new projects. Last year, they finished a record 18,600 apartments in South Florida, outpacing 15,000 net new leases, CoStar Group data shows. The completions came as the pipeline of Northeasterners and West Coasters to South Florida slowed, leading to slower lease-ups and more concessions.

Supply should catch up to demand late this year and early next year due to a slowdown of construction starts, experts said.
Amid the pipeline in West Palm Beach, Savanna is developing Olara with two 26-story towers with 170 apartments and 287 condos at 1919 North Flagler Drive. Affiliated Development is developing the eight-story, 270-unit Spruce apartment building at 2501 Spruce Avenue.

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