The City of St. Petersburg is taking the next step towards turning a St. Petersburg College property in west St. Pete into an affordable housing development for students and staff.

This week, the St. Petersburg Community Planning and Preservation Commission voted to approve a rezoning land use amendment paving the way for the city to purchase SPC's former Gibbs Wellness Center property.

The city plans to build 105 affordable workforce townhomes with 30% of the units reserved for students, teachers, and faculty. The eligible students and faculty will have the right of first refusal to purchase the homes.

The city is currently under contract to purchase the 5.24-acre site at 7045 Burlington Avenue North for $4.2 million. The city will also pay up to $100,000 for the surveys, inspections, and closing costs.

SPC has owned the parcel since 1989 and it consists of a 20,732-square-foot building built in 1969, surface parking, and a field.  

The site is currently zoned Neighborhood Traditional–2 (NT-2) with an Institutional use on the city’s Future Land Use map.  

After the change, the site is now zoned Residential Medium (RM) on the city’s Future Land Use Map. Concurrently, there was an amendment changing the zoning to Neighborhood Suburban Multifamily–1 (NSM-1).  

The site is surrounded by single- and multi-family housing and is east of the Pinellas Trail.

Details about the site plan and a potential development agreement were not available nor discussed as part of the amendment approval.

Nonetheless, residents and some CPPC members expressed concerns regarding the percentages and affordable housing protections.

"There's no guarantee 30 percent will be maintained [for students and faculty]," said one resident. "At a minimum, there should be a 60 percent commitment to housing residents and teachers with a smaller percentage for private sales that would generate revenues that I'm sure the school would need to support itself going forward ..."

Community and Neighborhood Affairs Administrator Amy Foster said there's a restricted covenant on the property, which requires the units to remain affordable for 30 years.

Derek Kilborn, Manager of St. Pete's Urban Planning and Historic Preservation Division, also clarified that the application before the CPPC only relates to the land use change, which complies with the city's comprehensive program.

The proposal aligns with the Advantage Pinellas Housing Action Plan created by the Advantage Pinellas Housing Compact, which outlines the city's goal to increase the attainable housing inventory for households at all income levels.  

During a November 2023 City Council meeting, councilmembers were informed that the units would be slated for those earning at or below 120% of the area median income and will only be available for purchase.

The city plans to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP), opening the floor to developers to submit bids for the project. Once a proposal is selected, the terms of the proposal will be negotiated and will ultimately need to be approved by City Council.  

Additionally, the project will need to be approved by the Development Review Commission, Kilborn said.