St. Pete Standard

City of St. Petersburg Celebrates Workforce Housing with Sixteenth Square Townhomes Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on January 10

St. Petersburg - The City of St. Petersburg, along with developer Namasté Homes, will host a ribbon cutting ceremony on Wednesday, January 10, at 10:30 a.m. to celebrate 11 new workforce housing units at Sixteenth Square Townhomes, 1523 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. S (corner of 16th Ave. and 9th St. S). The new development is located in the South St. Pete Community Redevelopment Area (CRA).

"The Sixteenth Square Townhomes are a prime example of CRA dollars at work," said St. Pete Mayor Kenneth T. Welch. "Partnerships with developers like Namasté help to make home ownership a reality for those who thought owning a home was just a dream. This also fulfills our 10-year Housing Opportunities for All Plan which is focused on impacting 8,000 new and current households by 2030."

Mayor Welch will be in attendance at the ribbon cutting, along with City Council Vice-Chair Copley Gerdes, Council Member Richie Floyd, City staff, and representatives from Namasté Homes. A model unit will be available to tour. The rain date for the ribbon cutting will be Wednesday, January 17, at 10:30 a.m.

CRA DOLLARS AT WORK

The South St. Pete Community Redevelopment Area has committed $1,056,000 as an incentive to Namasté Homes to develop 11 workforce housing, single-family, 3-bedroom, 2 1/2-bathroom units with a sales price of approximately $271,000 to those whose income does not exceed 100% Area Median Income (AMI). Additional funding up to $60,000 per unit is available as down payment assistance to qualified home buyers. More information about the development and the application can be found at www.namastehomes.com/16thsquare 

The Sixteenth Square Townhomes workforce housing development supports Mayor Welch's Housing Opportunities For All Pillar For Progress, which is powered by his Housing Opportunities For All Plan.

About the South St. Pete CRA

The South St. Pete Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) was established to promote reinvestment in housing and neighborhoods, commercial corridors, business development, and education and workforce development within the area designated as the South St. Petersburg CRA. As the largest in St. Pete and one of the largest in Florida, the 7.4-square-mile CRA is comprised of Greater Childs Park, more than 20 neighborhood and business associations, and two Florida Main Street Districts. More info about the CRA can be found at www.stpete.org/cra.  

About Mayor Welch’s Housing Opportunities For All Plan

To address St. Pete’s growth and rising housing costs, Mayor Welch launched the Housing Opportunities For All Plan in April 2023. The plan is an expansion to the City's existing 10-year Housing Opportunities for All Plan. Enhancements to the plan include support for renters, financial assistance for residents to preserve existing affordable housing and make properties livable for longer, and incentives and strategic funding to produce more affordable units in St. Pete. More about the plan can be found at www.stpete.org/AffordableHousing.

Original source can be found here.