12-story, 150-unit affordable housing tower proposed for former Playhouse Theater site in Grand Central District
/The Playhouse Theater property could soon be demolished to make way for a new affordable housing tower in the Grand Central District | St. Pete Rising
The century-old Playhouse Theater and Morph Nightclub properties in St. Pete’s Grand Central District could soon be demolished for a new affordable housing tower near downtown St. Pete.
Tampa-based affordable housing developer Blue Sky Communities has the 0.61-acre site at 1850 Central Avenue and 1833 1st Avenue South under contract for $6.25 million.
The deal is expected to close in March 2027.
Plans call for a 12-story, 150-unit affordable apartment tower, called JR Tower, with 3,000 square feet of commercial space.
“Getting affordable and workforce housing in downtown St. Pete is becoming increasingly difficult so this is an opportunity that doesn’t present itself often,” Blue Sky Communities Executive Vice President and CFO Scott Macdonald said in a conversation with St. Pete Rising.
“I hope it will alleviate a lot of the challenges this area is seeing for staffing businesses. Additionally, we are excited for the residents to be able to utilize the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) as JR Tower will be a quarter of a mile from a BRT station,” Macdonald added.
Blue Sky Communities plans to utilize Chapter 17.5 of St. Pete’s municipal code, which allows affordable housing developments on certain commercially and industrially zoned properties in exchange for long-term affordability requirements.
The site is currently zoned Corridor Commercial Traditional (CCT-2), which allows for mixed-use developments containing restaurants, bars, retail, office space, and small-scale residential uses.
Blue Sky Communities is under contract to purchase a 0.61-acre property in the Grand Central District | Google maps
The unit mix would include 97 one-bedroom apartments and 53 two-bedroom units.
The project would target households ranging from extremely low-income residents to workforce earners, with five units reserved for households earning 22% of the Area Median Income (AMI), 28 units at 30% AMI, 73 units at 60% AMI, and 44 units at 80% AMI.
Using current Pinellas County income limits, those AMI tiers roughly translate to the following annual household incomes:
22% AMI: approximately $16,000 to $18,000 for a single-person household
30% AMI: approximately $21,900 for one person or $31,290 for a family of four
60% AMI: approximately $43,800 for one person or $62,580 for a family of four
80% AMI: approximately $58,400 for one person or $83,440 for a family of four
Blue Sky Communities will also reserve 23 units for youth aging out of foster care.
The proposed development is expected to cost approximately $53 million.
Macdonald said the project hopes to receive approximately $25 million in tax credit equity and $11.4 million in subordinate debt financing through the Florida Housing Finance Corporation in June.
The development team also expects to pursue additional funding through the City of St. Petersburg’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program.
The tower will offer resident-focused programming such as after-school activities, employment assistance, and financial management services.
The former Morph Nightclub on 1st Avenue South is expected to be demolished to make way for the new affordable apartment tower | St. pete Rising
If the project moves forward, it would replace the long-vacant Playhouse Theatre building, which dates back more than a century.
The theater first opened in 1925 as the open-air Patio Theatre before later being converted into an indoor theater and renamed the Playhouse Theatre in 1934.
In the 1950s, the Playhouse continued to show family-friendly films. By the late 1960s, however, the theater had become an adult venue screening pornographic films, and it later operated as a bar during the 1990s.
Through its various iterations, much of the interior of the theatre was removed or stripped of its historic value.
The building does not currently carry a historic designation.
Over the years, several developers explored potential redevelopment concepts for the property, including a food hall, music recording space, and office uses.
Dr. Graves and Dr. Laryngakis, who work for Florida Urology Partners at 830 Central Avenue, purchased the property for $2.7 million in 2021.
In March of last year, demolition and building permits were submitted to the City of St. Petersburg for a separate redevelopment proposal that ultimately never moved forward.
While the affordable apartment tower is still in the early planning stages and specific details could change, Blue Sky Communities already has a sizable footprint in St. Pete’s affordable housing sector.
The company has developed several affordable housing communities in the city totaling roughly 589 units, including the recently completed phases of Skyway Lofts on 34th Street South near 38th and 39th Avenues South.
Blue Sky also previously completed Bear Creek Commons, an 85-unit affordable senior housing community near Gulfport.
Macdonald hopes to break ground on the new tower in the third quarter of 2027, with construction expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2029.
