City, Habitat to collaborate on affordable CRA townhomes

Forty new affordable South St. Petersburg townhomes got the green light Thursday, as City Council unanimously agreed with a request from Habitat for Humanity Tampa Bay Gulfside.

Councilmembers enthusiastically approved funding not to exceed $2,182,534 in Tax Increment Financing money from the South St. Petersburg Redevelopment District Fund.

The 2.2-acre site at 2100 18th Avenue S., in one of the city’s designated Community Development Areas, will be home to Pelican Place Townhomes, consisting of eight buildings with five units in each. It’s across 18th from the mostly-dormant Tangerine Plaza retail site.

The plan includes 10 two-bedroom and 30 three-bedroom homes. Additionally, all units will include a den that can be used as an additional bedroom if needed.

The City gifted the acreage to Habitat for Humanity Tampa Bay Gulfside in 2024. The homes will be sold to households earning less than 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI); homeowners will be provided with a 0% interest fixed-rate mortgage, with closing costs capped at $2,000.

The organization anticipates revenue of $12 million from the sale of the townhomes which, combined with the donated land value and City subsidy, equals the total project cost of $15,612,534. Groundbreaking should take place next spring, with the townhomes ready for occupancy in early 2027.

Habitat CEO Mike Sutton explained the details of the plan to Council members. “The idea is that we sell these units at $300,000 to the borrower,” he said. “It’s a zero-interest mortgage, so keep that in mind – $850 a month or so, HOA (Homeowners Association) fees will be about $150 a month, then you add in taxes and insurance … we’re probably going to be somewhere around $1,200 a month.”

Homeowners, he stresses, will be “building generational wealth from day one with the zero interest mortgage, because 100 percent of that payment is going to pay down that principal.”

The most recent construction collaboration between Habitat and the City, Shell Dash Townhomes, followed a similar plan. Families moved into the property at 1120 16th Street S. in April.

“The City invests money in multiple different places – and I think investing in you has been one of the City’s best decisions,” Council member Mike Harting told Sutton.

“This project is just incredible. The thought of owning a home, with a payment that leaves me money to buy Christmas presents, I couldn’t ask for more out of you and your team.”

Sutton, in turn, thanked the Council for its financial support. Without it, “we wouldn’t be able to make the project work, so just keep it flowing, and we’ll keep building.”