ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — On Wednesday morning, St. Petersburg city leaders celebrated new workforce housing units as the Tampa Bay area continues to face an affordable housing problem.
The new units are at Sixteenth Square Townhomes off Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street South in the South St. Pete Community Redevelopment Area (CRA).
"In the past couple of years, we have seen attainable housing in St. Petersburg become a much bigger issue, with many critical workers and community members priced out of living here," said Frederic Samson, president of Namaste Homes, the developer.
The city said the South St. Pete CRA committed more than $1 million as an incentive to the developer to develop 11 workforce housing units with a sales price of about $271,000 to those whose income does not exceed 100% Area Median Income (AMI).
"In addition, the city will provide substantial down payment assistance for qualified buyers at the time of purchase," said Samson.
"This kind of collaboration between public and private entities is essential for the development of affordable housing moving forward," said St. Pete Mayor Kenneth Welch.
It's a familiar issue all across the Tampa Bay area.
Dylan Dames is with Faith in Florida, a group passionate about the affordable housing problem.
"I would that say community organizations like ours and our city leadership are on the same page that affordable housing really is a need here in the city," said Dames.
As far as what more needs to be done, Dames thinks it requires bolder housing solutions, brought forward without profit as a focus.
"I think if we take a couple of steps in those directions, mixed-income developments, attempting to solve the problem without also trying to profit from it, I think that's the way to go," said Dames.
