ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Just two weeks into their new job, a handful of St. Petersburg city council members are taking up one of the city’s most pressing issues - affordable housing.
“It’s encouraging to see," said William Kilgore with the St. Petersburg Tenants Union. “Yeah, it’s good to see that right off the bat that’s something that they are talking about at least. Whereas before it was kind of like this is an issue, but it’s not that serious. So, it seems like they’re serious about it at least. Trying to address it."
People living in St. Petersburg are pleading with council members to do something as rent rates continue to soar - up about 25 percent in the last year.
“I always worked, but my social security doesn’t cover a whole lot,” said Anna Kaufman, addressing the council. “And I would like to have something available for our seniors, so they don’t have to live on the street.”
Council members took what some see as a big step, both practically and symbolically by unanimously voting to approve a $750,000 loan for a local nonprofit called Contemporary Housing Alternatives of Florida (CHAF).
The money will help acquire no less than 12 units on Russell Street in St. Petersburg, with an understanding that those units be used for affordable housing.
The $750,000 set aside for this project will come from St. Petersburg‘s economic stability fund. As part of the agreement, people already living in the Russell Street units will not be forced to leave.
Still, some are critical of the deal.
“How will CHAF guarantee that none of these tenants are displaced like they promised? What this really is, is a transfer of wealth from the public to the private sector. Draining public resources for only temporary affordability,” said Karla Correa, also with the St. Petersburg Tenants Union.
CHAF is under contract to purchase the property next month for about $1.3 million.
They estimate they’ll need another $300,000 to $400,000 in improvements.
In exchange for St. Pete covering about half that cost, CHAF enters a 30-year agreement. Rent will be restricted to those earning 60 percent or less of the area’s median income. And rent prices will be limited to those set by the Florida Housing Finance Corporation.
“Otherwise, it would just be sold to a market rate owner and we would have no control over the rent limits,” said Assistant City Administrator Robert Gerdes.
“You know, making these improvements to what we’ve already got is truly part of the solution,” said Council Member Gina Driscoll.
Advocates would still prefer to see the city invest in people, not necessarily organizations or developers - promoting more homeownership, and not just affordable rent.
But they say today’s discussion, tackling the issue so early in St. Pete’s new administration, is encouraging.