Three developers vie for 5.24-acre city-owned site in west St. Pete

Developers and homebuilders are vying to redevelop a former St. Pete College site into an affordable housing community.

St. Pete Rising has obtained all three proposals that were submitted to the City of St. Petersburg proposing affordable for-sale residences to a 5.24-acre site at 7045 Burlington Avenue North in west St. Pete.

The site currently contains a two-story building on the south end that was once St. Pete College’s Gibbs Wellness Center. The north end of the site is vacant.

In April, the city issued a request for proposals (RFP) soliciting interested developers to submit plans to redevelop the land, which the city purchased from St. Petersburg College in May for $4.2 million.

According to the RFP, the city’s is seeking a proposal that contains approximately 105 residences sold to buyers earning at or below 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI).

Homeowners will be required to sell the home to someone earning at or below 120% of area median income (AMI) during the 30-year affordability period.

Additionally, St. Pete College students and staff will have the first right of refusal to purchase 30% of the residences.

Lastly, the city would prefer to include a facility in support of the arts of approximately 15,000 square feet. The selected team can utilize the former Gibbs Wellness Center or construct a new building.

Proposals were due on Monday, June 3rd at 10 a.m.

Once a proposal is selected by city administration, the development agreement will go before City Council for approval, at which point the public will have an opportunity to weigh-in.

The project will also need to be approved by St. Petersburg’s Development Review Commission.

These are the interested developers and what they are proposing:

HP Capital Group and D.R. Horton

The site plan for the 72 affordable townhomes | hp capital

Local developer HP Capital Group, in partnership with national homebuilder D.R. Horton, proposes to build 72 affordable townhomes.

HP Capital, formed by St. Pete residents Fred Hemmer, Angelo Cappelli, and Nick Hansen, is currently under construction on the 18-story Reflection condo tower in downtown St. Pete, which is expected to begin move-ins this September.

HP Capital has an existing relationship with D.R. Horton, working on two residential developments in Palm Harbor and Largo with the homebuilder.

The group, which is requesting to purchase the land, would sell the units to residents earning 81% and 120% of the AMI.

A rednering of Harbor landing, D.R. Horton’s NEW 64-UNIT TOWNHOME COMMUNITY COMING TO PALM HARBOR | d.R. horton

In order to achieve 72 townhomes, HP Capital would need to demolish the on-site wellness center. However, if the city prefers to keep the building to be used as an arts center, HP Capital suggested an alternate plan that would limit the unit count to 48 townhomes.

The residents may be eligible for down payment assistance and/or an interest rate buy-down program of up to $150,000.

“The development simply cannot sell townhomes for less than the total construction costs without grant assistance, but HPC is open to this negotiation,” the team wrote.

“To help with affordability, the development team will buy down the buyer’s mortgage rate at closing to help achieve a lower mortgage payment thus making the purchase qualify.”

The estimated total development cost is $22.25 million.

HP Capital is open to purchasing the property or a ground lease with a purchase option — whichever is the city’s preference.

If approved, the full buildout would take 16 months to complete.

ASD | SKY and AG Signature Homes

A rendering of the proposed development as seen from the northeast | ASD | SKY

Associated Space Design Inc., doing business as ASD | SKY, proposes to build 106 affordable condo and townhome units.

Tampa-based ASD | SKY would partner with Fort Lauderdale-based Alexander Goshen on the project with a development team consisting of AG Signature Homes, nonprofit Humble Beginnings, Goshen Construction Group, New Dimension Builders, and Tampa Bay Neighborhood Services.

The project would consist of 34 condo units, ranging from 560-square-foot studios to 1,358-square-foot three-bedroom layouts, and 72 three-bedroom townhomes, at 1,500 square feet. All 106 units would be sold to families earning up to 120% of the Area Median Income (AMI).

The project would also contain a Community Arts Center on the ground floor of the condominium building.

The total project cost is estimated at $39 million. The group is proposing to purchase the land from the city for $2.5 million.

The development team expects to complete the project by the first quarter of 2027.

Habitat for Humanity and Namasté Homes

A rendering of the propsed townhomes | Habitat for Humanity and namesté Homes

Joint venture partners Habitat of Pinellas and West Pasco Counties and homebuilder Namasté Homes propose to build an affordable townhome development.

The local Habitat for Humanity chapter has helped over 1,000 families become homeowners and Namasté Homes has worked on multiple affordable housing projects such as Sixteenth Square Townhomes in south St. Pete and the Artistry at Park Station residential development in Pinellas Park.

The partners provided two different development options for an 87-unit townhome community or a 104-unit townhome community; however, the developers favor the 87-unit plan.