In one of his final acts as Mayor, Rick Kriseman approved plans to sell 2 acres of public land located on the east side of Tropicana Field in order for it to be developed into office space and luxury housing at the behest of two recently transplanted tech firms, Dynasty and ARK. The city’s asking price? $6.25 million. By comparison, the Kolter Group recently purchased a .04 acre parking lot nearby at 200 Central Avenue for $20.45 million – a rate of $50 million an acre. Selling public land at such a low price amounts to nothing less than a massive corporate giveaway. The sale is also a one-time transfer of wealth from the public sector to private enterprise, providing little return for St. Pete’s working class.
The proposed development at 910 2nd Ave S. The city owned land beneath will be sold for $6.25 million.
The 36-story building is set to contain 350-400 units of luxury housing, with 12% set aside for so-called “workforce” housing, a designation used for those making somewhere between 80-120% of the Area Median Income (AMI), meaning individuals making less than $41k and families making less than $58k annually will not qualify for the estimated 42-48 units of subsidized housing planned at the site. These subsidized units will undoubtedly be gobbled up quickly by out-of-state techies, edging out members of St. Pete’s existing higher paid workforce, like firefighters and educators.
What’s more is so-called “workforce” and “affordable” housing units are funded in full by taxpayers, yet these units do not remain permanently affordable since it goes into the pocket of developers who are only required to keep them affordably priced for a limited number of years. As corporations, tech firms and wealthy retirees continue to swarm to our city, and shape our downtown for their pleasure, the city government has a duty to bargain better deals for existing residents who are drowning in the rising tide of so-called “progress”. Instead of doling out corporate giveaways the city should be making the profiteers, who created this housing emergency in the first place, pay their fair share in order to help dig us out of it.
While short-term solutions such as rent control are necessary to stop landlords from gouging us into homelessness, we must simultaneously focus on long-term solutions to ensure guaranteed housing for all in the Sunshine City.
Instead of stale, inefficient market-based solutions to provide housing, the city should pivot toward social solutions, such as the establishment of a community land trust. Land trusts take the value of land out of the equation, ensuring permanent affordability and giving residents personal ownership over the homes built on top. They also protect us from parasitic investors who siphon wealth out of our community through real estate deals.
In addition, the city could be investing in the development and procurement of new public housing. The St. Petersburg Housing Authority currently operates 371 units of public housing, but is permitted by federal law to operate up to 891 units. That’s 520 additional low income families who could benefit from permanent affordability offered through public housing, which could be constructed on city owned land instead of selling that land to out of state profiteers.
It remains to be seen whether Kriseman’s successor, St. Pete native Ken Welch, will implement policies that pivot from business as usual, or if he will stay the course and continue to enable rapid gentrification and displacement. As for outgoing Mayor Rick Kriseman, he will be largely remembered as progressive in name only, with his efforts to make St. Pete a city of inclusivity overshadowed by unrelenting concessions to the business class at the expense of the poor.
In addition, the city could be investing in the development and procurement of new public housing. The St. Petersburg Housing Authority currently operates 371 units of public housing, but is permitted by federal law to operate up to 891 units. That’s 520 additional low income families who could benefit from permanent affordability offered through public housing, which could be constructed on city owned land instead of selling that land to out of state profiteers.
Kriseman posing with NYC billionaire Trump supporter, John Catsimatidis. Catsimatidis recently made headlines for heckling Tenants Union protesters at a ground-breaking ceremony downtown.
It remains to be seen whether Kriseman’s successor, St. Pete native Ken Welch, will implement policies that pivot from business as usual, or if he will stay the course and continue to enable rapid gentrification and displacement. As for outgoing Mayor Rick Kriseman, he will be largely remembered as progressive in name only, with his efforts to make St. Pete a city of inclusivity overshadowed by unrelenting concessions to the business class at the expense of the poor.
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