New 95-unit affordable housing community coming to St. Pete
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Mar 5, 2024

The St. Petersburg Housing Authority has partnered with Blue Sky Communities to build a new affordable housing community in St. Pete.

The project will bring 95 units to a 1.35-acre site at Hartford Street North and 32nd Avenue North. The community will be called The Hartford and will be a combination of family and senior apartments.

City council approved a rezoning request for the site on Feb. 15, which allows for a higher density at the location. The original plan was for 47 units to be built, but the rezoning has allowed for the construction of 95 affordable units on the site.

“We are very excited to reach this milestone and begin working with the St. Petersburg Housing Authority,” Blue Sky Communities Partner Scott Macdonald said in a release. “The need for this housing in St. Petersburg is enormous.”

This is the latest in a wave of projects from SPHA. In February, the group announced it was moving forward on redevelopment plans for the former Ed White Hospital. The project will bring a six-story, 121,000-square-foot building with 71 apartments to the site. The units will be for low-income seniors and the building will also become the new headquarters for SPHA.

The land is already owned by SPHA, and the project will also include recreational space for pickleball and shuffleboard. The team will also renovate the SPHA property Saratoga Apartments, an affordable housing community with two two-story apartment buildings at 3475 32nd Ave. N as part of the project.

There are 34 one- and two-bedroom units spread among the buildings.

SPHA President and CEO Michael Lundy said the project “aligns seamlessly” with the group’s commitment to “addressing the pressing need for housing in St. Petersburg.”

SPHA serves more than 4,000 low-income households throughout St. Pete.

“We could not be more thrilled to pursue this development opportunity as the latest step in fulfilling our mission to provide safe, affordable housing to the residents of St. Petersburg, especially in a time of such great need,” SPHA Board Chairman James Dates said in a release. “Our board will always lend our support in this critical effort.”