St. Petersburg city officials have announced a ten-year plan to create more affordable housing as rents rise across the region.
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Starting next year, the city will allocate $60 million to create and preserve 2,400 affordable multi-family units.
At Wednesday’s announcement, Mayor Rick Kriseman said that’s double the amount of affordable homes the city built over the last ten years.
“If we want to be a city of opportunity where the sun shines on all, then we must be able to provide affordable, quality housing for those who aspire to live in St. Pete.,” he said.
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The city’s contribution comes from a range of sources, including revenue from the Penny for Pinellas sales tax increase and money it receives from the state and federal government.
$8.5 million of it will come from local taxes collected by the South St. Petersburg Community Redevelopment Area to improve housing within the struggling district.
"We recognize that talent, aspiration and the drive to succeed has always been in South St. Pete, but opportunity simply has not, and that's our job," said Deputy Mayor Kanika Tomalin.
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The rest of the plan involves building more accessory dwelling units in the city like garage apartments and carriage houses, using density bonuses to encourage developers to build more affordable units and helping working residents become first-time homeowners.
"The plan mainly focuses on supporting low- and moderate-income households, but will also offer solutions for families and middle-income households and above," Mayor Kriseman said.
Kriseman said it will affect 7,000 households and help 19,000 members of the community.
Additional funding will come from a mix of public and private money.
For more details about the plan and how it will be funded, click here.
