Council takes first step toward bringing 19 townhomes to west St. Pete
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jun 16, 2023

St. Petersburg City Council has approved amending the future land use and zoning of a parcel on 66th Street North, paving the way for plans to build 19 townhomes on the site.

Council voted 7-1, with Council Member Copley Gerdes being the sole dissenting vote, to approve the proposed zoning change for the 0.79-acre parcel at 118 66th St. N. The change alters the future land use map from Planned Residential/Office General to Planned Redevelopment — Mixed Use.

On May 9, the Community Planning and Preservation Commission unanimously agreed the amendment was consistent with the city’s comprehensive plan. Griffin Goudreau, a real estate investor with 3W LLC, is the applicant for the request.

There is currently a single-family home on the southern portion of the lot, and the northern portion is vacant. According to the application, Goudreau is under contract to purchase the property and the map amendment will support plans to build 19 townhomes on the site, with the potential for retail or other permitted mixed-uses.

The Park Vendome condominiums adjacent to the site have 68 units on approximately 2.5 acres of land. To the north are three single-family homes, but the area is zoned so they could be redeveloped for mixed-use and multifamily density of 15 units an acre.

The parcel is near three major roadways — 66th Street North, Pasadena Avenue North and 1st Avenue North — and is near the West Central Shopping Center, which is home to Craft Kafe and Earth Origins Market. The property is also 325 feet from a SunRunner stop on 66th Street North and the shopping center.

The amendment takes steps toward addressing the recommendations from the SunRunner Development Study, which was accepted by the city council on April 21, 2022. The study focuses on how St. Pete could apply transit-oriented development near and around SunRunner stations.

The 66th Street station area is identified as a “Village Place Type as it is a shopping destination for the surrounding neighborhoods with a popular grocery store and many other retail, restaurants, and services along Central Avenue,” according to city documents.