ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — The deal for a company to redevelop and operate the St. Pete Municipal Marina fell through.
At the beginning of this year, Mayor Ken Welch selected Safe Harbor Marinas to redevelop and manage the St. Pete Municipal Marina, a place Michelle Kosmitis has considered her “home” since 1999.
News Channel 8 reporter Nicole Rogers asked her, “When you heard about this deal, what went through your head?”
“Oh no,” she responded. “I’m going to have to find a new place to live.”
For residents like Sarah and Philip McDonald, it was scary.
“The talk has been, really just the questions,” Sarah said. “What would happen?”
“Once the marina became private, what impact would that have on people like us who hold live aboard status and actually reside at the marina?” she added.
On Thursday, St. Pete City Administrator James Corbett issued a letter to Safe Harbor Marinas stating, among other things, “The city of St. Petersburg is hereby ending negotiations and the current proposal process.”
You can read the letter in full below.
Corbett notified city council in a memo Thursday saying in part, “Several changes have occurred since the initial solicitation and selection of safe harbor, and we no longer believe that a lease agreement is the best option for the redevelopment and operation of the marina.”
You can read that memo in full below.
It came as welcome news to Kosmitis.
“We’re thrilled about this non-privatization because it would just be, our slip rents would triple, management would do whatever the h*** they want,” she explained. “So let’s hope we get back on track.”
A few boats down, Philip said the deal falling through is good news.
“It probably gives more of a voice to the people who stay here, and they’re not pulling strings from New York City,” he said. “[The city] will probably get a better feel for what needs to be done around here.”
Back in April, the city council was briefed on the status of the leasing agreement.
St. Pete City Council Member Brandi Gabbard made her stance clear on how she’d prefer to move forward if the deal fell through.
“We’re going to have to go back to the drawing board again as far as I’m concerned,” she said. “Because I do not see a world where, at this point in time, I’m willing to spend $26 million on just the marina.”
