A Florida lawmaker has asked the state to budget $25 million to help Tampa General Hospital build a 160-unit, multifamily housing project for health care workers in the greater Tampa Bay region.
The hospital plans to use the development to help attract and retain health care workers by providing affordable rental units, according to a budget request filed Nov. 14 by Sen. Jay Collins, R-Tampa.
Collins’ proposal (Senate Form 1186) for the 2024-25 fiscal year says the money would be used for architectural design, civil engineering, planning, permitting and construction.
“These dollars are nonrecurring capital expenditures associated with the construction of a workforce housing multifamily development in Tampa Bay,” Collins writes in the request.
Housing priority would go to employees of the hospital, its subsidiaries and teaching partner University of South Florida Health with incomes between 80 to 120 percent of the region’s medium income of $89,400, the proposal reads.
The development would include a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments with space for child care services and other standard amenities, the proposal says.
According to Collins, the overall cost for 2024-25 is $60 million, with $34.5 million coming from “other” sources and another $500,000 in “matching funds.”
Collins says state funding is necessary to offset costs “to construct and operate a similar product with market rate debt and equity requirements” to meet the area’s medium income rental range.
Construction would begin in October 2024 with a projected opening in the fall of 2026.
Collins’ request is among 332 Senate projects submitted for a total of $675 million. House members are seeking about $3.1 billion to fund nearly 1,500 proposals.
