Welch: Moffitt still intends to come to St. Pete

St. Petersburg city council members and Mayor Ken Welch are hopeful Moffitt will bring a cancer center to the city – despite the mayor’s move to kill the initial Moffitt/TPA Group deal.

“We did not lose Moffitt. I was in conversations with their chair, the CEO. They still intend to be here,” Welch said during a Thursday city council meeting. “TPA was a totally separate part of that proposal that weighed it down. If it was just Moffitt, I think it would have a much different outcome.”

Welch rejected Moffitt Cancer Center and TPA Group’s $5 million offer and proposal to purchase the 4.59-acre site at 800 1st Ave. S. in downtown St. Pete. The proposal entailed building a 75,000-square-foot cancer center operated by Moffitt, and the Atlanta-based TPA Group would then bring a 30-story residential tower with a portion of affordable housing units, a potential 14-story hotel and a parking garage.

Councilmembers highlighted how the Moffitt/TPA proposal was the first project to go before the newly created Community Benefits Agreement (CBAC) Advisory Committee. During multiple CBAC meetings, the committee raised concerns about the development group’s limited amount of affordable housing and the monetary offer for acquiring the site, recommending that the mayor should negotiate a feasible deal with them.

Welch asked TPA to bump up the number of affordable housing units to at least 30% from the initially proposed 10% offer. TPA ultimately agreed to raise it to 17.5%.

Director of Economic and Workforce Development Brian Caper said the city told TPA they were open to alternatives, including a different site and payment options, but the 17.5% was essentially a “take it or leave it” offer.

The other glaring issue was TPA’s unsolicited offer of $5 million to acquire the site that was appraised at $24.1 million.

“No way I could look at numbers and say it was justified,” Welch said. “This deal did not make financial sense to me.”

He explained the $19.1 million gap for a small percentage of affordable housing couldn’t be entertained “nor was it clear that the vision of this city, council and administration was to have a hotel and 10% affordable and workforce housing,” Welch said.

Councilmember Deborah Figgs-Sanders also commented, stating Moffitt was “basically held hostage by TPA.”

The city hasn’t outlined immediate steps concerning the future of the site, but the staff is researching options and wants to continue to engage with Moffitt.

“I look at the Moffitt Cancer Center and I put it at the same level as a Mayo Clinic or a Cleveland Clinic. I’ve never had cancer before, but a lot of people who deal with that horrible disease want to go to a place that specializes in cancer,” councilmember Ed Montanari said. “They were going to build a 75,000-square-foot facility that was going to be a treatment and research facility. Part of that development included a 375-unit apartment building, a 200-room hotel and the parking structure. To lose all that because we couldn’t come to an agreement on affordable housing is a huge loss for our city.”

He highlighted the jobs the entire project would’ve created – 3,500 temporary construction jobs, 200 jobs through Moffitt, and 50 jobs through the hotel along with the taxes it would generate.

“Affordable housing is a priority for our city, but it’s not the only priority and good jobs solve a lot of those problems. Bringing Moffitt Cancer Center here to our community is a big deal. You [Welch] mentioned you are still talking to Moffitt and there’s an opportunity to still have them in St. Petersburg. I hope that comes true,” Montanari said. “I didn’t like hearing this deal was terminated because of affordable housing.”

Councilmember Copley Gerdes said he understands the decision to terminate the deal with the large subsidiary, but also said from a personal standpoint, his wife endured cancer treatments for a year and said the concept of having a hotel attached is the future of health care, especially as treatments progress and it takes an emotional toll on patients commuting from their home to the center.

Councilmember Gina Driscoll recommended that the city should craft a request for proposals (RFP) to outline exactly what the city desires for the site, rather than potentially receiving unsolicited proposals.

The site is currently vacated with the city having a 75% ownership stake. The city uses the site for parking.

UPC Insurance has a long-term lease with the city, controlling a portion of the site.