St. Pete approves redevelopment of former Raytheon site
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jul 21, 2023

St. Petersburg City Council has approved the redevelopment of the former Raytheon property, which will bring more than 1,000 apartments to west St. Petersburg.

Commissioners unanimously approved the site plan Thursday evening. Clearwater-based Porter Development LLC plans to build 1,058 apartments on a 29-acre site at 1501 72 St. N., southwest of Tyrone Square Mall.

Of those, 318 units — or 30% of the total units — will be affordable and workforce housing.

The units will be broken down into 159 apartments for those making 80% of the area median income (AMI) or lower and 159 units for those making 120% AMI or lower. The project will have 11 four-story buildings, 1,113 long-term bicycle parking spaces, 55 short-term bicycle parking spaces and 1,788 parking spaces.

The project will be developed in three phases. Phase 1 and Phase 2 will build out 18.82 acres with two buildings in Phase 1 and four buildings in Phase 2. The first two phases will build 662 units. Phase three will consist of building five buildings and 396 units on 10.29 acres.

Amenities include a community clubhouse, playground, fitness area, three community pools, courtyards and pedestrian connections to the Pinellas Trail.

Les Porter, president of Porter Development, previously told the Business Journal that had The Council not approved the project, he would have fallen back on Florida’s new affordable housing laws, also known as the Live Local Act, to move an altered version of the project forward.

The Live Local Act requires at least 40% of the units — which is 10% more than Porter’s proposal — to be set aside for affordable housing. However, the units would only have to offer at least 120% AMI, which means the 80% AMI units could be cut in the revision.

Council’s approval Thursday means that both 120% AMI and 80% AMI units will be built on the site.

This is Porter’s third attempt to redevelop the former Raytheon site. The original plan called for a sports center with retail and other uses. Porter held extensive community meetings detailing the new vision for the property.