Transforming History: New Senior Housing Development Planned for St. Pete's Iconic Gas Plant District

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — In a bid to explore new development possibilities, the City of St. Petersburg has announced a 30-day period for additional proposals concerning land within the Historic Gas Plant District. This decision follows a recent proposal submitted by another developer, as confirmed by city officials on Tuesday.

Residents like Langdon Lytle are closely watching these developments. “I’m really excited to live next to Tropicana Field next season. It’s actually one of the reasons I decided to move to St. Pete,” Lytle shared.

Lytle expressed his appreciation for the former Rays Hines proposal for the district, although he acknowledges that new plans might not include a focus on baseball. His main concern is ensuring that development does not leave local communities behind.

“I’m from South Florida, where a similar situation occurred,” Lytle noted. “Many people, especially those earning mid to low incomes, were eventually displaced.”

“I’m from South Florida where the same exact thing happened. Yeah, really, everybody that was like mid to low-income workers, they kind of were pushed out,” Lytle said.

The latest proposal isn’t a flashy city staple. But the Pinellas County Housing Authority said the city faces a severe shortage of affordable senior housing, with rent burdens disproportionately impacting older residents on fixed incomes.

“I believe it. Everything they seem to be putting up is higher-end, upscale housing. So I could see them running out of housing for seniors,” Lytle said.

The St. Petersburg Housing Authority said they operate two senior housing facilities and at both locations, residents pay 30% of their monthly income toward rent. In the Pinellas County Housing Authority’s proposal, they’ll redevelop the city-owned parking lot on 3rd Avenue South into a seven-story, 80-unit affordable housing community. They will have direct access to the Pinellas Trail, increasing its foot traffic.

Developers said they’ll target lower income seniors, with preference give to seniors who used to live in the Historic Gas Plant District.

Lytle said he’s fine with this development but also hopes to see the rest of the Gas Plant site cater toward everyone.

“It just seems that it would be nice if there was other things happening too for local businesses, small business, like you said, seniors, lower income residents, people that work in the city that can’t afford to live downtown,” Lytle said. “Kind of a merging of progress but also keeping the spirit and style of St. Petersburg in that progress. So it’s not just high rises and high-income housing.”

Alternative proposals from private developers or other interested parties for the Historic Gas Plant District property are allowed and will be published in mid-November.

“Honoring the promises made to our community, including the residents of the Historic Gas Plant District, has been a top priority of my administration and we continue to explore ways to pursue impactful outcomes that reflect the needs and aspirations of our residents,” said Mayor Kenneth Welch.