Construction begins on Azalea Cay, a 1,000-unit apartment community in west St. Pete
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Construction is underway on Azalea Cay, a planned 1,000-unit apartment community on the former Raytheon property in west St. Pete.
Tampa-based Metro Development Group, St. Pete-based Porter Development, and local elected officials broke ground Monday morning on the first phase of the project at 1501 72nd Street North, near Azalea Park and Tyrone Square Mall.
The $109.8 million first phase will bring 341 apartments, including 102 income-restricted homes.
Fifty-one apartments will be reserved for households earning up to 80% of the area median income (AMI), while another 51 will be available to households earning up to 120% of AMI.
“I look around and I envision someday teachers, nurses, first responders coming home from a tough day at work and calling Azalea Cay home,” Les Porter, president of Porter Development, said during the ceremony. “Maybe one of the big reasons why they’re still able to live in St. Pete is because of the rent associated with their apartment.”
The units were initially planned to remain affordable for at least 30 years; however, it was extended to 50 years after negotiations with city and county staff, Porter said in a conversation with St. Pete Rising during the ceremony.
The remaining 239 apartments will rent at market rate.
The project, formerly known as Azalea Gateway, is planned across three phases and will ultimately bring about 1,000 apartments to the 29-acre site. About 300 of those homes are expected to be designated as affordable or workforce housing.
Azalea Cay will be built on a 29-acre site at 1501 72nd Street North, near Tyrone Square Mall and Azalea Park | Google Maps
The first phase will feature one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments across three buildings. Plans also call for a clubhouse, leasing office, fitness center, yoga room, game room, pool, and pet spa.
Metro Development Group’s involvement marks a new direction for the Tampa-based developer, which is best known for large master-planned communities in Pasco County.
Azalea Cay is the company’s first multifamily community.
“This is a super exciting project,” Porter said. “I look forward to seeing it come to fruition and couldn’t be more excited to be part of something as big as this in the city of St. Petersburg.”
The development is supported by $11.25 million in public funding. The City of St. Petersburg committed $6 million to the first phase, while Pinellas County provided $5.25 million through Penny for Pinellas funds.
Earlier this month, the development team secured $75 million in construction financing from Valley Bank for Azalea Cay’s first phase.
Azalea Cay will be built in three phases, ultimately bringing 1,000 new apartments to west St. Pete | Metro Development Group
Mayor Ken Welch said the investment would help create homes for the people who keep the city running.
“$6 million that will help deliver 341 new apartments, including 102 affordable or workforce apartments,” Welch said. “For the firefighters, for the teachers, for the city workers, for folks who make our city work, they’ll be able to live here in 102 of those homes in the first phase.”
The property has seen a number of proposals before reaching this point.
Porter began pursuing redevelopment plans in 2019, when an early proposal called for a 150,000-square-foot sports tourism complex, a public recreational lagoon and beach area, and apartments.
The plan drew neighborhood opposition, and Forward Pinellas denied the needed land-use amendment for the sports facility.
Porter withdrew that proposal and later shifted to the apartment community now under construction.
“What initially attracted me to this site was its size. It’s hard to find land of this scale in Pinellas County. We are taking what was an environmentally tainted land and making it something that will make a difference for the community,” said Porter, who purchased the site in 2021 for $10.5 million.
The residential development was approved in 2023 using a state housing law that allows residential development on industrially zoned land when at least 30% of the units are designated as affordable or workforce housing.
Metro Development Group, Porter Development, and local elected officials broke ground Monday morning on the first phase of the project | City of St. Pete
The property was used from 1958 through 2008 by E-Systems, later acquired by Raytheon, for communications hardware and defense-electronics manufacturing. It later underwent environmental remediation, and FDEP has approved the site for redevelopment subject to ongoing restrictions.
On Monday, however, the focus was on the future—and on the affordable and workforce housing Azalea Cay will bring to St. Pete.
“We know there’s no single project or policy that can solve that challenge,” Welch said. “But it takes sustained investment, creative solutions, and strong partnerships. And Azalea Cay is a great example of what that partnership can accomplish.”
According to an updated timeline, construction for Phase 1 is expected to take 24 months, with completion and leasing to begin by early 2029.
Porter said it would take about two years for each phase once construction commences.
