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Raytheon site to become $200M residential community

Veronica Brezina

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A rendering of the proposed mixed-use development at 1501 72 St. N. Image provided.

The West St. Petersburg site that formerly housed defense firm Raytheon Technologies will be flipped into a 1,000-plus-unit residential development with affordable housing. 

Les Porter, the owner of Clearwater-based Porter Development, previously eyed the 29-acre property at 1501 72 St. N., southwest of Tyrone Square Mall, for a sports center that would feature a lagoon, but he has since retooled those plans. 

“Once Forward Pinellas voted against the sports center, I didn’t feel it had the potential for success. As much as I liked the sports center concept, I began thinking about other possibilities for multifamily with a large affordable housing component,” Porter said to the St. Pete Catalyst. 

Porter purchased the property in 2021 for $10.5 million without having the plans approved yet. Typically, a developer will seek approval from the city before closing on a site, but Porter said he felt confident about his plans enough to “take that risk” and proceed with the purchase.  

The proposed 1,058 units, if approved, will be built in three phases, with more than 300 units, or 30%, dedicated to workforce housing.

Half of the affordable units will be designated for households earning less than 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI), while the remaining half will be earmarked for those earning less than 120% of the AMI.

“Bringing more rental options to this area is important. In this environment, we are seeing higher interest rates for homes, and it makes homeownership difficult,” Porter said. “As a small business owner, you want your employees to be able to live where they work.” 

Porter added he has met with members of surrounding neighborhoods and received positive feedback. 

Initially, Porter was planning to utilize House Bill 1339, which allows municipalities to transform industrial or commercial- zoned properties into affordable housing expeditiously.  

The Fairfield Avenue apartments was the first project to utilize the new law.  

The state has recently passed Senate Bill 962, which allows for mixed-income projects to be built on industrial or commercial- zoned properties if at least 10% of the units are designated as affordable. The City of St. Petersburg bumped up the minimum requirement to 30% and added criteria. 

“Fortunately, with the mixed-income dynamic, market-rate units will help us financially as affordable projects are subsidized,” Porter said, stating he estimates the ballpark cost of the project to be roughly $200 million. 

Porter said if the project goes before the city council in March and is approved, it will likely take three to four months to go through permitting, followed by four to six months of site work. He expects the first move-ins to take place in late 2024. 

He is working with Virginia-based Poole and Poole as the project’s architect, and Clearwater-based civil engineering group Gulf Coast Consulting.

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3 Comments

3 Comments

  1. Avatar

    Gina Schmick

    January 11, 2023at8:21 am

    Isn’t this land contaminated? Did they just pay fees or will it be mitigated?

  2. Avatar

    LR

    January 10, 2023at8:47 pm

    Good luck cleaning up all the toxins in the ground left behind by Raytheon.

  3. Avatar

    C. B. Adams

    January 10, 2023at7:52 pm

    Excellent news for folks with low to moderate income wanting to work and live in the same area. Hopefully city council sees the benefit.

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