More affordable housing coming to South St. Pete with Habitat for Humanity partnership
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - In a bold effort to address the affordable housing crisis, the City of St. Petersburg is partnering with Habitat for Humanity to build new homes in South St. Pete. It's to ensure that families who live and work in the area have a real shot at staying in their community.
Fighting the Rising Cost of Living
As the Tampa Bay region continues to grow, so does the cost of housing — forcing many long-time residents out.
"The need continues to increase, and we continue to see so many people priced out of our community," said Mike Sutton, the president and CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Tampa Bay and Gulf Side.
The people most affected? Teachers, firefighters, police officers and essential workers who form the backbone of the city.
Local perspective:
Habitat currently has 140 families enrolled in its homeownership program. One of the developments they'll have access to is Pelican Place — a new community of 40 townhomes in South St. Pete.
READ: Florida ranked as the worst state in the country for aging in place: Study
The city donated a vacant lot off 18th Avenue for the project, which sits across from the mostly empty Tangerine Plaza — also slated for redevelopment.
"By putting 40 homeowners across the street in these townhomes... we hope it’s a catalyst to get Tangerine Plaza redeveloped," Sutton said.
Big picture view:
What sets this project apart is Habitat’s commitment to sourcing future homeowners from within the surrounding neighborhood.
"There’s a pretty significant effort on our end to recruit future homeowners from the CRA [Community Redevelopment Area]," Sutton explained.
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City Councilmember Brandi Gabbard praised the move, saying, "That is something for a very long time we needed to make a greater effort at... so I just want to applaud you for taking that extra step.
Dig deeper:
The homes at Pelican Place will be priced at $300,000 each, available to families earning less than 80% of the area's median income. And to keep the homes truly affordable, buyers will have zero-percent mortgages.
Still, building homes isn’t cheap — especially post-pandemic.
"It costs us about $100,000 more to build a home than it did before 2020," Sutton said.
What's next:
Pelican Place is expected to break ground by the end of this year.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Genevieve Curtis.
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