ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — The City of St. Petersburg has announced a 30-day period for submitting new proposals concerning the development of the Historic Gas Plant District site. This decision comes after a fresh offer from another developer for part of the land was revealed on Tuesday.
Local residents, such as Langdon Lytle, are keenly interested in the outcomes of these proposals.
“I’m thrilled about living next to the Trop for the upcoming season. It was one of the reasons I chose to move to St. Pete,” Lytle shared.
Recently, the Lakeland commission agreed to sell a building and garage to Publix for $20.
Lytle expressed his fondness for the previous Rays Hines proposal for the Historic Gas Plant District, which included baseball. However, he acknowledges that new proposals are emerging that might not incorporate this element. What he hopes for is that communities will not be overlooked in the process.
The latest proposal isn’t a flashy city staple. But the Pinellas County Housing Authority said the city faces a severe shortage of affordable senior housing, with rent burdens disproportionately impacting older residents on fixed incomes.
“I believe it. Everything they seem to be putting up is higher-end, upscale housing. So I could see them running out of housing for seniors,” Lytle said.
The St. Petersburg Housing Authority said they operate two senior housing facilities and at both locations, residents pay 30% of their monthly income toward rent. In the Pinellas County Housing Authority’s proposal, they’ll redevelop the city-owned parking lot on 3rd Avenue South into a seven-story, 80-unit affordable housing community. They will have direct access to the Pinellas Trail, increasing its foot traffic.
Developers said they’ll target lower income seniors, with preference give to seniors who used to live in the Historic Gas Plant District.
Lytle said he’s fine with this development but also hopes to see the rest of the Gas Plant site cater toward everyone.
“It just seems that it would be nice if there was other things happening too for local businesses, small business, like you said, seniors, lower income residents, people that work in the city that can’t afford to live downtown,” Lytle said. “Kind of a merging of progress but also keeping the spirit and style of St. Petersburg in that progress. So it’s not just high rises and high-income housing.”
Alternative proposals from private developers or other interested parties for the Historic Gas Plant District property are allowed and will be published in mid-November.
“Honoring the promises made to our community, including the residents of the Historic Gas Plant District, has been a top priority of my administration and we continue to explore ways to pursue impactful outcomes that reflect the needs and aspirations of our residents,” said Mayor Kenneth Welch.