WEST PALM BEACH, FL — West Palm Beach has already cleared a housing goal that wasn't due until April 2027.
The city says it has surpassed Mayor Keith A. James' "1,400 in 8" affordable and workforce housing goal by 203 units, putting the effort at 114% of its target. The initiative aimed to develop at least 1,400 affordable or workforce housing units across the city, and by the city's count it has now added more than 1,600.
For a region where housing costs have squeezed working residents, the number is the headline. The goal was set in May 2024, and the city reports it hit and passed the mark well ahead of the deadline.
According to the city, Mayor James announced the "1,400 in 8" goal in May 2024 while accepting the Housing Hero Award at the Housing Leadership Council of Palm Beach County's second annual Housing Hero Luncheon and Award Ceremony. The target: at least 1,400 units of affordable or workforce housing in West Palm Beach by April 2027.
The initiative is run by the city's Housing and Community Development department, known as HCD.
It follows a series of earlier housing targets the city says it met and then raised. In 2020, Mayor James announced a "300 in 3" goal to create 300 affordable workforce housing units by the end of his first term. According to the city, that goal was surpassed and lifted to 500 units within three years. At the 2022 State of the City address, the mayor set a new total of 600 units by the end of his first term, which the city says it also exceeded.
To reach the current goal, HCD says it leans on public-private partnerships and a set of housing strategies. Those include flexible development rules such as density bonuses and increased building capacity, revised land development policies meant to reduce regulatory hurdles, loans and grants to leverage private and public investment, reductions and waivers of development fees, use of city-owned vacant land, and programs such as down-payment assistance for homebuyers.
The city has published an interactive map that lets users locate the housing projects developed under the "1,400 in 8" initiative.
What the provided information does not break down is how many of the units are already built versus still in the pipeline, the income levels they serve, or how the total splits between rentals and for-sale homes. The city credits the progress to the mayor's push and the work of the HCD department.
The April 2027 deadline still stands on paper, but by the city's own accounting, the goal has already been met and passed.
West Palm Beach continues to see new housing, commercial development, downtown investment, and redevelopment activity across key areas of the city. Read our West Palm Beach Government coverage for reporting on the decisions shaping the city’s future.
