Case Study: St. Petersburg's Housing Plan - A growing city ramps up its affordable housing development - Local Housing ...
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Case Study: St. Petersburg’s Housing Plan A growing city ramps up its affordable housing development.
About the Locality Name: St. Petersburg, Florida in Pinellas County Population: 263,255 (2017) Affordable Housing Needs: • Between 16,000 and 20,000 families in Pinellas and Hillsbor- ough Counties are on waiting lists for subsidized apartments or housing vouchers, respectively. 1 • Homeless population is approximately 11,1032 Unique Challenges/Considerations: • Rent prices have increased 46% in recent years • Home prices are growing at a faster rate than wages • The region has the lowest median household income among the nation’s largest metro areas • Florida’s statewide affordable housing trust fund is continually used to balance budgets
About the Housing Plan The City of St. Petersburg has developed a comprehensive 10-year plan to address housing affordability by expanding existing programs and introducing new solutions. The plan will begin in 2020 and will be funded through various public and private sources. The plan will impact approximately 7,000 households, improving life for 19,000 community members across the city. The plan will mainly focus on supporting low- and moderate-in- come households but will also offer solutions for middle-income households and above. The largest portion of the plan will utilize $60 million of City fundning for the construction of 2,400 affordable multi-family units.3 “We must be able to provide affordable, quality housing for those who aspire to live in St. Pete. this will expand existing programs and introduce new solutions to provide opportunities to thousands.” - Mayor Rick Kriseman Funding4 The housing plan will be funded through the following sources: • HOME Investment Partnership - $1.5 million • Florida’s State Housing Initiative Partnership - $2.5 million • City-Owned Land - $10 million • Penny for Pinellas (1% sales tax) - $15 million • South St. Petersburg Community Redevelopment Area (local taxes collected from CRA) - $8.5 million • Floor Area Ratio Bonus (fee paid by developers) - $2.5 million • Linkage Fee - $20 million
How This Strategy Fits The Housing Policy Framework5 I. Create and preserve dedicated affordable housing units • Create and preserve 2,400 multi-family units • Include mixed-income developments on City-owned land to increase the supply of multi-family units • Support the construction of 300 accessory dwelling units, such as en- couraging developers to include affordable units like carriage houses and garage apartments • Enable the purchase of 500 single-family homes for households earn- ing 120% of the area median income or below • Provide 150 single-family lots for construction of new affordable homes II. Promote affordability by reducing barriers to supply • Make housing more affordable by increasing the supply of market rate units through the new Neighborhood Traditional Multi-Family zoning districts • Support the development of 200 non-subsidized Workforce Density Bonus Units III. Help households access and afford private-market homes • HOME Tenant-based rental assistance • Downpayment and closing cost assistance IV. Protect against displacement and poor housing conditions • Enable more than 3,200 single-family homeowners to stay in their homes by remedying code violations through available grants and additional City funding
What Plans Do They Currently Have in Place? The county currently operates 371 public housing units and distributes 3,952 housing choice vouchers. In addition, the county currently runs the following programs and initaitves: • Programs for homeowners: • Home Repair Loans: funds to remove health and safety risks and to correct code violations to a residence • Barrier Free Loans and Grants: financial assistance supporting fixtures that render a home accessible for persons with disabilities • Solar Energy Loan Fund (SELF): a nonprofit organiza- tion which provides loans, project management, and a list of approved contractors for home improvement projects to improve energy efficiency, water conserva- tion, and storm preparedness • St. Petersburg CRA Grant Opportunities • Rebates for Residential Rehabs: a 20 percent rebate of the cost of specific building improvements to the owner of the residential property. • Homelessness Prevention/Re-housing/Continuum of Care • Tenant-based rental assistance • Homebuyer education • HOME Investment Partnerships initiatives • Emergency Solutions Grant initiatives • Community Development Block Grant initiatives • Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS • Fulfillment of a Citizen Participation Plan • Fulfillment of an Anti-Displacement and Relocation Plan • Public facility improvements, housing & non-housing • Public services, housing & non-housing • ...and more
ABOUT LOCAL HOUSING SOLUTIONS LocalHousingSolutions.org provides resources to help cities, towns and counties develop comprehensive and balanced local housing strategies that enhance affordability, protect low-income residents from displacement, and foster inclusive neighborhoods. The resources on LocalHousingSolutions.org are organized under eight verbs. Each of these sections corresponds to a different step in the process of developing and implementing a local housing strategy. LEARN | PLAN | ANALYZE | ACT | FUND | REFINE | BRIDGE | EXPLORE The non-partisan site was developed through the National Community of Practice on Local Housing Policy. Learn more and get started today at LocalHousingSolutions.org ©2019 Abt Associates and NYU Furman Center. All rights reserved. Endnotes 1 https://www.tampabay.com/st-petersburg/st-petersburg-has-a-plan-to-tackle-affordable-housing-heres- whats-new-x2014-and-not-new-x2014-about-it-20190724/ 2 https://www.tampabay.com/st-petersburg/we-are-in-an-active-housing-crisis-st-petersburg-forum-tackles- affordable-housing-20190710/ 3 https://www.tampabay.com/st-petersburg/st-petersburg-has-a-plan-to-tackle-affordable-housing-heres- whats-new-x2014-and-not-new-x2014-about-it-20190724/ 4 http://www.stpete.org/housing/docs/St.%20Petersburg’s%20Housing%20Plan%20Overview.pdf 5 http://www.stpete.org/housing/docs/St.%20Petersburg’s%20Housing%20Plan%20Overview.pdf
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