Inaugural St. Pete development summit highlights initiatives to encourage growth while maintaining culture
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Mar 4, 2022

The St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership and Urban Land Institute Tampa Bay recently convened development experts from across the country to share their growth challenges and successes, similar to what St. Pete is currently facing.

The inaugural St. Pete Development Summit featured speakers from Austin, Texas; Baltimore; Boulder, Colorado; and Philadelphia. They discussed decisions made in their cities during growth surges and how those choices impacted the quality of life for residents and altered the culture of each respective community.

Austin, Texas

In Austin, the population has doubled every 20 years since it was founded. Molly Alexander, executive director of the Downtown Austin Alliance Foundation, explained that growth hasn't been an issue in a while for the city, and recently, the main goal has been to “preserve Austin’s soul.”

Over the last six years, the foundation has focused on four issues: welcoming places, growing neighborhoods, a thriving center, and establishing mobility. Even if it was not affordable to live in downtown Austin, the group wanted to ensure those who call the place home could afford to travel to and from the city, find affordable meals and find nearby housing that allowed them to continue to work in the city.

She said like Austin, St. Petersburg has a strong sense of community pride, and it will be crucial to ensure there are policies in place to preserve the vibe. In Austin, some of the changes the organization made were to start paying local artists and entertainers enough so they could afford to live there; to create opportunities for small businesses to thrive via events like popups, and to help local business owners with underdeveloped spaces to make the most of their properties.

“Where are my values as a community-based organization?” Alexander asked. “Where are my values when I’m working with the government? Where are my values when I’m developing a place because these are all the lasting aspects of what you’re going to leave, and you’re a steward of the community? If you care about a place, what is it you care about? And do you put your intention and your pocketbook to the things you care about?”

Baltimore

East Baltimore Development Inc. President and CEO Cheryl Washington and Karen Johnson, chief real estate officer, discussed their mission to revitalize 88 acres in the city, a similar-sized project to the Tropicana Field redevelopment.

Their organization, created by the mayor and city council, is a public-private partnership. In total, the redevelopment is estimated to represent $1.8 billion in investments. Johnson said without the group’s focus on rebuilding trust within the community, there would not have been successful revitalization.

EBDI was handed a section of East Baltimore where 70% of the buildings in the area were vacant. There had been a mass departure of both residents and companies, and EBDI was tasked with revitalizing the area.

They rehoused residents while redeveloping small sections and created programs and subsidies to help displaced residents return. They strategized which companies would be coming to the area, prepared residents for those jobs and then prioritized applications in the hiring process.

Boulder, Colorado

Cris Jones, director of Community Vitality for the city, focused his presentation on smart growth. Boulder has a population of just over 100,000 — a large percentage of which comprises college students — and as of 2019, had a median property value of $700,000, according to census data.

Companies like Google, a National Institute of Standards and Technology facility, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and aerospace giants like NDP/Braxton, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin all set up shop in Boulder.

This economic boom has led to a need for both affordable housing and affordable commercial spaces for small businesses. The city has initiatives in place to meet that need, and because of the high demand, it can require things from incoming developers to boost the economy if they wish to come to Boulder. They have currently built more than 4,000 affordable housing units, and the city’s goal is to reach 7,000.

Philadelphia

In a slightly different approach, Matt Rader, president of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, discussed the economic benefit of cities leaning into greenspace while developing their communities.

He presented examples where Philadelphia created community gardens, cleaned up vacant lots and used well-maintained greenspace to boost community morale and opportunities for local small companies. Rader said economically, it is an affordable option for cities to embrace, and he believes the benefits continue to multiply over time.

There are more than 160 community gardens in Philadelphia, and in many instances, the food grown at the sites is donated to organizations that help feed the local populace.