Plans for the redevelopment of a former mobile home park at 8700 4th Street North are moving forward after a site plan was approved last Wednesday by St. Pete’s Development Review Commission.

Belleair Development Group purchased the former 112-unit Lamplight Village mobile home park in January 2018 for $3.4 million. In 2019, the new owners petitioned the City to rezone 6.14-acres of the property from Neighborhood Mobile Home (NMH) to Neighborhood Suburban Multi-family (NSM-1) in order to redevelop the site into rental units. City Council approved the rezoning in early 2020.

The redevelopment of Lamplight Village calls for a total of 112 units across 19 buildings. Eighteen of the 19 buildings are two-story, four-unit buildings—similar to townhomes—while a larger three-story, 40-unit building will be located on the eastern side of the property.

“This was a terrible mobile home park. We decided to improve it with the concept of building these townhome-style buildings and provide the type of housing that’s needed in the city,” Carlos Yepes, owner of Belleair Development Group told the Commission.

A unique aspect of the project will be the inclusion of four-bedroom units, which are rarely included in new multi-family developments in St. Pete. “We’re going to do all four-bedroom [units],” Yepes said. “There’s a dire need in the city for four bedrooms.”

The four-bedroom two-bath units are expected to be market-rate apartments and will likely attract families given the number of bedrooms. Another unique feature for the townhome units will be a spiral staircase leading to a rooftop terrace.

The development is located in a flood zone and is required to be elevated by 11 feet. However, Belleair is adding five feet to that requirement.

As a result, the ground floor of each building will be used for parking while living spaces will be on the second or third floors. Each townhome unit will contain a private two-car garage along with two additional spaces in a carport while parking for the 40-unit building will be located underneath the building in communal parking areas. A total of 429 parking spaces will be included in the project.

The primary entrance into the development is via 4th Street and 87th Avenue North. Belleair recently paid for the installation of a new traffic signal at the intersection.  

After purchasing the mobile home park, Belleair carved out two pads for the development of retail buildings that front 4th Street North. The first building, which is 2,452 square feet, was recently completed and is leased to Verizon. A second building, which will be 6,815 square feet, is currently in permitting and is expected to be an AutoZone according to documents filed with the city.

Developer interest in multi-family development along the 4th Street corridor has significantly increased in recent years. Earlier this year, another multi-family development was approved for 4th Street North. Arya, a 415-unit apartment project being built by Stock Development, was approved for the 4th Avenue and 54th Avenue North. And last month, St. Pete-based real estate investment firm Stoneweg announced the acquisition of two sites along the corridor which are expected to be redeveloped into workforce apartments.

The Belleair Development Group’s new project was approved by a 4-2 vote and no additional approvals are needed. Construction on the development is expected to begin within 90 days and will be built in phases. Rental rates for the units have not been disclosed.