Mixed-use project on St. Pete's Pinellas Trail will provide affordable housing for artists
By Henry Queen
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Sep 26, 2024

The Warehouse Arts District Association plans to develop a mixed-use project along the Pinellas Trail with 52 affordable housing units specifically for artists.

The nonprofit wants to create living space for the artists at its adjacent ArtsXchange campus, which houses several art galleries and studios. As Tropicana Field's redevelopment looms nearby, WADA wants to ensure that artists aren't priced out of the ensuing real estate boom.

A new zoning overlay, years in the making, has made the development a possibility.

"In the next five years, you will not recognize this neighborhood," WADA board president Mark Aeling said. "The development is going to explode."

The four-story mixed-use project is in its early planning stages. WADA teamed up with San Antonio-based Lake Flato Architects to design the project. Neither a general contractor nor a development partner has been chosen, nor has financing been lined up.

WADA intends to seek government and philanthropic assistance to fund the project, Aeling said.

"We're looking at a variety of different models for how to do this — whether we have a development partner or we could get funding through the city, the county, the state and potentially federal government," Aeling said at a St. Pete Downtown Partnership event Tuesday. "Our ears are open."

WADA owns the property, which spans less than an acre on a triangle-shaped lot at 2275 Sixth Ave. S. It paid $500,000 for the parcel in 2019, according to property records. The 2.7-acre ArtsXchange campus at 515 22nd St. was picked up by WADA in 2014 for $975,000 after a successful fundraising campaign.

The new development will incorporate food and beverage concepts, including a designated space along the Pinellas Trail. Unlike the portion of the trail in Dunedin — which is booming on the weekends — St. Pete lacks a critical density of bars facing the Pinellas Trail.

Prospective residents will have to prove that art is their primary source of income and will need to make at or below 80% of the area's median income.

Parking must be added for the food and beverage concepts, but Aeling said pedestrian and bike traffic is already increasing along the trail.

He acknowledged the difficulty of developing the "unusually shaped" piece of property. But it could also allow for interesting nooks and crannies, including an interior courtyard and green space.