St. Petersburg College buys neighboring Midtown structures
By Margie Manning
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Oct 29, 2015

A deal that was years in the making wrapped up Wednesday, when St. Petersburg College bought two buildings near its new Midtown campus.

The purchases will help stabilize the neighborhood, said Bill Law, president of St. Petersburg College. He said the college intends to turn both structures into community resources for Midtown - a historically black neighborhood that fell on hard times, but more recently has seen a rebirth of economic activity.

The college paid $1.2 million for the two buildings. One is known as the Cecil B. Keene Center for Achievement, a 10,556-square-foot structure at 1048 22nd Street S. The other is an 11,136-square-foot gymnasium at 1201 22nd Street S. Both previously were owned by the St. Petersburg Housing Authority.

SPC had leased the smaller building for classes, but opened a new flagship Midtown campus this summer. The 45,000-square-foot Douglas L. Jamerson Jr. Midtown Center at 1300 22nd Street S. opened for classes in August.

The SPC board of trustees approved the purchase in early 2013, but the college had to work through negotiations and approval from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, due diligence inspections and title issues before the deal could close. In addition to purchasing the buildings, SPC will provide:

Five $1,000 scholarships per year for 30 years to public housing residents enrolled at SPC; Ten $250 textbook scholarships per year for 30 years to public housing residents enrolled at SPC; and Five surplus computers per year for 30 years to public housing residents enrolled at SPC.

"It's not [Tampa Bay Lightning owner] Jeff Vinik's $1 billion plan, but it's big for our corner of the world. People in Midtown have been waiting to get this done so we can take the next steps,” said Law, who has been president of SPC since 2010. He has focused the college on workforce education and being responsive to business training needs, a key element to attracting and retaining business in the area.

SPC will revisit the community dialogues it's been having with the Midtown community, he said. "I would suspect in 60 to 90 days we'll bring new ideas to the board as to where we go next to make these facilities community resources.”

Margie Manning is Print Editor of the Tampa Bay Business Journal. She also covers the Money beat.