Ground broken for Azalea Cay multi-family community

A new multi-family community in west St. Petersburg is one step closer to reality. Metro Development Group and Porter Development officially broke ground on Azalea Cay Monday. 

The first phase of the approximately 1,000 unit project will feature 341 apartments; 51 units will be reserved for households earning 80% or below the Area Median Income. Another 51 homes will be available to individuals earning 120% of the AMI or below. 

Azalea Cay, located at 1501 72nd Street N. near Tyrone Square Mall and the Pinellas Trail, will be built in three phases. The 29-acre site was once owned by aerospace and defense firm Raytheon Technologies. 

“Housing affordability and availability remain among the most pressing challenges facing our community,” said St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch at the Monday event. “As St. Pete and Pinellas County have grown, too many residents have felt the pressure of rising housing costs and too many families have had to make difficult choices about whether they can afford to remain in our community.” 

“Azalea Cay gives us an opportunity to bring new life and new purpose to a property that has been underused for many years,” he continued. “Through thoughtful redevelopment, we are adding much needed housing, generating economic activity and creating lasting value for this neighborhood and for our broader community.”

From left, Metro Development Group principal Kartik Goyani, Porter Development president Les Porter, St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch, St. Petersburg City Council member Copley Gerdes and Pinellas County commissioners Brian Scott, Rene Flowers and Kathleen Peters at the Monday event. Photo by Michael Connor.

A $11.25 million public investment was made in the Azalea Cay development. The City of St. Petersburg government approved $6 million for phase one, while Pinellas County committed over $5 million in Penny for Pinellas dollars. 

“When local governments have opportunities like this to partner with the private sector, a small investment can go a long way,” Pinellas County Commissioner Brian Scott said at the gathering. “With the agreements set in place for Azalea Cay, all 102 of the units set aside for our workforce will remain affordable for 50 years.” 

For the developers, the project has been long in the making. Due to soil and groundwater contamination, the property has remained vacant for quite some time. Environmental remediation efforts began after Raytheon purchased the real estate in 1995. Despite the challenges, Porter Development acquired the site in 2021. 

“What attracted me to the property was really the size of it,” Porter Development president Les Porter explained. “It’s so difficult to find land of this scale in Pinellas County.” 

Initially, the company wanted to build housing, a lagoon and a sports complex. The St. Petersburg City Council approved the plan in February 2021. Forward Pinellas, the county’s planning agency, voted against the effort. This ultimately led the organization to change course. 

A revised plan for a mixed-income development received City Council approval in 2023. However it was met with neighborhood opposition. 

“There were a lot of eyes on this project and there was concern, rightly so,” he explained. “As we moved through the process, it was challenging to come up with a proper development plan.” 

When asked about the contamination, Porter said that there are procedures in place. 

“All oversight will be done through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection,” he explained. “In terms of the specific plans, we have a soil management plan. We’ll have groundwater testing on site. We did some initial testing and that came back clean.” 

Metro Development Group principal Kartik Goyani added that “there’s kind of a weekly plan on what has to happen, what can happen, what cannot happen and how it gets done.” 

In a Sept. 14 letter obtained by the Catalyst, design and consultancy firm Arcadis indicated to area residents that the environmental issues are still a concern. Raytheon requested the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to authorize a Temporary Point of Compliance boundary “at the known limit of groundwater contamination in relation to the site” in 2010. 

The document was submitted as a required five-year update. 

Project manager Gus Suarez wrote that “although contaminant concentrations have decreased, a complete cleanup has not been achieved.” He added that “the most recent analytical data indicate that the contamination still exists beneath your property.” 

Goyani added that the phased approach of the project has key benefits. Phase one is an area “where a majority of the work has already been done.” 

Metro Development Group’s services focus primarily on land development and master-planned communities. Azalea Cay is the company’s first multi-family effort. 

“We have around six more in the pipeline throughout the state,” Goyani said. “We expect to break ground on a few others in the next couple weeks. We are also planning another one in St. Pete.” 

Phase one of the Azalea Cay development should be completed in approximately 24 months.