Former mobile home park in Lealman to be redeveloped into affordable housing
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Feb 1, 2024

Affordable housing will be built on a former mobile park site in Lealman.

The Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners approved plans to build 17 units on the county-owned site at 3901 46th Ave. N. Boley Centers Inc.’s community housing development organization, Pinellas Affordable Living Inc., will build the apartments on the former site of the Wood Acres mobile home park.

Two groups responded to a request for proposals to develop the property. Boley Centers' group estimates the project will cost approximately $5.86 million, which breaks down to approximately $345,000 per unit. The market value for the land is $910,000.

Some commissioners expressed concerns about the high construction costs and the number of proposed units. In mid-January, St. Petersburg City Council voiced similar frustrations over spending more than $19 million on an affordable housing project that would result in 24 townhomes. In total, the subsidy for the construction costs for the St. Pete townhouses will break down to nearly $500,000 per unit.

Commissioner Rene Flowers said in comparison to St. Pete, she didn’t think $345,000 per unit was an unreasonable ask.

“It’s high — one of the higher ones we’ve seen, and I think it is because of the scale,” Bruce Bussey, community development director for the county, told commissioners. “There are some special facilities and accommodations for visual impairments and those kinds of things, so their cost per unit is a little high.”

Staff informed commissioners that even if they were to increase the allowed density on the site, the triangular shape of the roughly 1.55 acres would make it difficult to build more than 17 units as well as the required parking.

The units will be set aside for those making at or below 60% of the area median income, with four units reserved for those making at or below 33% AMI. Plans show the units will be a mix of one to three bedrooms. The median family income in Pinellas County in 2023 was $89,400.

The county agreed to convey the property to the Housing Finance Authority of Pinellas County. The HFA will then execute a lease with Boley Centers so the group can apply for financing from the state.

County staff said they expect the group to return to the county at a later date for financing assistance for the project, which they estimate to be in the request of approximately $1 million.

If state funding does not come to fruition, staff told the commissioners they could wait and have the group reapply next year for state funding, or the county could consider financing the project. Applications are due at the end of March, and they expect to know if the project will receive state funding within 60 to 90 days.

Boley Centers is no stranger to affordable housing projects. In St. Petersburg, the group is behind the Butterfly Grove Apartments at 715 Fifth Ave. N, and in Pinellas Park, the group built Evergreen Village at 6641 62nd Ave. N.