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New Edgemoor Neighborhood housing development will replace old mobile home park
The St. Petersburg Development Review Commission Wednesday approved plans to build nearly 300 homes at the site of a mobile home park in northeast St. Petersburg.
The project, a gated multi-family community consisting of apartments, carriage homes, courtyard houses and townhomes, would replace the Venetian Motor Home Court at 5475 3rd Lane North in the Edgemoor Neighborhood.
The property is owned by St. Pete 454 LLC, a company associated with developer Grady Pridgen. His company bought the property for $10 million in October 2017, Pinellas County records show.
The neighborhood association supports the request, said Don Mastry, an attorney at Trenam Law who represented St. Pete 454 before the Wednesday meeting of the Development Review Commission.
“We’re dealing with a tired, 73-year-old mobile home park that’s going to be developed into a far better development than is there now,” Mastry said.
The Development Review Commission approved the site plan for a 297-unit project last year. The commission today approved a modification that divides the nearly 20 acres into two separate developments.
The north half of the property will have 22 courtyard-styled houses and 23 townhomes, while the southern half of the property will have a total of 252 dwelling units — two four-story garden-style apartment buildings and seven two-story carriage home buildings.
A rendering of the planned apartments at 5475 3rd Lane N. in St. Petersburg
The site plan for the north half is designed around an existing lake, with residential units facing the lake. The south half would include a pool and club house on the south side of the lake.
The land is in a flood zone. The developer agreed to elevate the existing grade of the land to comply with Federal Emergency Management Agency standards. The developer also agreed to replace trees that will be lost in the construction process.
The main access to the north half will be from 1st Street Northeast, while the primary access to the south half will be from 54th Avenue North. The only issue that generated much debate among commissioners was secondary access to the north half of the development from one of the neighborhood streets, Barnard Place North. The developer and city staff said they would work out that issue during the permitting process.
City staff recommended approval of the project and it was approved unanimously by the commission.
Caroline Bloodworth
June 17, 2020at5:17 pm
“We’re dealing with a tired, 73-year-old mobile home park that’s going to be developed into a far better development than is there now,”
Better for whom? I’ll bet not a single one of the folks who lived in that park can afford to live in the new development. And there’s not much else available for low income folks. How many end up homeless while developers line their pockets? Daily Spark, will you write that story?
Michelle Ligon
June 17, 2020at4:19 pm
Fact: There is ample case law prohibiting property improvements that place surrounding properties at undue risk.
Fiction: Raising the the elevation of a property automatically places surrounding properties at undue risk.
While some St. Pete attorneys might forget to check the site plan…you best believe Don Mastry is not in that number.
Brad Banks
June 17, 2020at3:25 pm
For residential properties, raising the elevation of your land is illegal because of course it floods the surrounding properties. Is this just another example of the rich guy, the developer being subjected to different rules?