(Save the date: RealShare Apartments comes to the Westin Bonaventure, Los Angeles, October 24.)

PALM BEACH COUNTY, FL—A 224-unit luxury multifamily rental community has broken ground in Palm Beach County. Hamptons PGB, a joint venture of ZOM Florida and Northwestern Mutual, are behind the multifamily project.

The Hamptons at Palm Beach Gardens promises to offer the most expansive and cutting-edge amenity package in the market when it begins leasing in Spring 2013. The multifamily project will feature a clubhouse with resort style pool, fitness center, e-lounge, and pet salon. The multifamily property also dons a 2.5-acre lake with walking trail, as well as a perimeter nature preserve.

“Occupancies at competitive luxury apartment communities in the market exceed 95% and rental rates are growing,” Kyle Clayton, ZOM Florida’s development vice president, tells GlobeSt.com. “This is the first multifamily rental development to start construction in this market since the recession. The complexity of the regulatory process in this market together with scarcity of development financing will limit supply for the foreseeable future.”

The 22.7-acre multifamily site is just a few minutes from the new Scripps Research Institute and the Jupiter campus of Florida Atlantic University. The site offers a low density setting for 25 two-story buildings and two three-story buildings in a neighborhood setting.

The Hampton units will be housed in the two-story format, with only six apartment homes per building. The multifamily buildings will look and function similar to a single-family home, with dedicated ground floor entryways and direct access garages. The Arbors units are designed in a three-story format, with breezeway access garages. The more traditionally sized one- and two-bedroom Arbors units will have superior view orientations of the lake.

“Home purchase financing is difficult for many people to get particularly in a market where the median home price is approximately $600,000,” Clayton says. “People’s attitudes about homes have also changed, many choose to rent because they are not comfortable with the financial risks of home ownership. The swell of population from the Eco Boomers starting to enter their prime apartment renting years is also impacting the market.”