St. Pete Mayor Unveils 10-Year Plan To Address Affordable Housing

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — With more than 7,000 Pinellas County residents having no place to call home and an untold number of residents struggling to pay their rents and mortgages, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman unveiled a 10-year plan Wednesday to address the city's to expand existing programs and introduce new solutions to make house more affordable.

The affordable housing plan will begin in 2020, using public and private funding to improve the lives of an estimated 19,000 residents throughout St. Petersburg, said Kriseman.

"If we want to be a city of opportunity where the sun shines on all, then we must be able to provide affordable, quality housing for those who aspire to live in St. Pete," he said.

He said the intent of the plan is to help those families who are a paycheck away from losing their homes or are forced to live outside the city due to the high cost of housing in St. Petersburg.

"Single-income families, retirees, first responders, teachers, nurses and more deserve a shot at living in and owning a home in our great city," Kriseman said. "We have been working for months to release a thoughtful, comprehensive plan that will expand existing programs and introduce new solutions in order to provide opportunity to thousands. I am excited to put this into action."

In addition to helping low- and moderate-income households, Kriseman said the plan also providing housing solutions for middle-income households and above.

How this plan will help low- and moderate-income households:

• Create and preserve 2,400 multi-family units
• Support the development of 200 non-subsidized Workforce Density Bonus Units (zoning strategy to encourage developers to include affordable units)
• Include mixed-income developments on city-owned land to increase the supply of multi-family units
• Support the construction of 300 accessory dwelling units, encouraging developers to include affordable units like carriage houses and garage apartments
• Enable the purchase of 500 single-family homes for households earning 120 percent of the area median income or below
• Provide 150 single-family lots for the construction of new affordable homes
• Enable more than 3,200 single-family homeowners to stay in their homes by remedying code violations through available grants and additional city funding

How this plan will help middle-income households and above:

• Make housing more affordable by increasing the supply of market-rate units through the new Neighborhood Traditional Multi-Family zoning districts
• Support the construction of 300 accessory dwelling units, encouraging developers to include affordable units like carriage houses and garage apartments
• Include mixed-income developments on city-owned land to increase the supply of multi-family units.

Kriseman said the plan calls for using $60 million of city funding for the construction and preservation of 2,400 affordable multi-family units.

"Since most of these funds are sourced by taxes already paid to each level of government, we are all contributing to this important solution," Kriseman said.

Sources include:

• HOME (HOME Investment Partnership) - $1.5 million: a federal funding source that provides money to the city through annual federal budget process
• SHIP (State Housing Initiative Partnership) - $2.5 million: a state funding source that provides money to the city through the annual state budget process
• City-Owned Land - $10 million: use existing city-owned land and future acquisitions, valued at approximately $10 million, for affordable housing
• Penny for Pinellas - $15 million: a 1 percent sales tax that funds long-term capital projects in Pinellas County
• SSP CRA (South St. Petersburg Community Redevelopment Area) - $8.5 million: a city program that collects local taxes through the CRA for projects located within the CRA
• Floor Area Ratio Bonus - $2.5 million: a fee paid by developers for the right to develop additional square footage on a property
• Linkage Fee - $20 million: a proposed impact fee on new market-rate construction, pending results of the city's nexus study in progress.