St Pete Rising - Everything new and coming soon to St. Pete

A massive multifamily development proposed for a 29-acre vacant parcel previously occupied by defense contractor Raytheon is moving forward after being approved by St. Petersburg City Council unanimously.

Last week, City Council hosted a public hearing to review a site plan to construct eleven four-story buildings with up to 1,058 units. The plans were filed by Azalea Porter Land LLC, an entity by Porter Development, who hopes to build a garden-style multifamily development on the site.

The parcel is located at 1501 72nd Street North and fronts 22nd Avenue North. The site was purchased by Raytheon in 1995 but never fully developed because of pollution issues that led to legal action. The company embarked on a lengthy environmental cleanup process in 2008 and sold the property, which neighbors Azalea Park, in 2015.

After striking out on a proposal for a sports tourism complex, a Tampa developer has come up with a new plan for a 29-acre vacant industrial parcel in west St. Petersburg, near Tyrone Square Mall, that has a troubled history.

According to a pre-application site plan review document submitted to the City of St. Petersburg, Porter Land LLC has proposed a 1,058-unit garden-style multifamily development for the property, which defense contractor Raytheon purchased in 1995 but never fully developed because of pollution issues that led to legal action. The company embarked on a lengthy environmental cleanup process in 2008 and sold the property, which neighbors Azalea Park, in 2015.

Over 300 units, or 30% of the total residential units, will be set aside as income-restricted workforce housing. Half of the affordable units will be earmarked for households earning less than 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI) and the other half will be marketed to households earning less than 120% of AMI.