A picture perfect backdrop to sunshine, white sand beaches, swaying palms, and hungry pelicans, the city of St. Petersburg is a jewel perfectly situated on Florida’s west coast. The waterfront to this progressive city still retains much of the Spanish architecture and resort town flavor that has always been a large part of its history. It also carries with it the gateway to Florida’s high-tech corridor where 60% of the state’s high-tech companies are located as well as 30% of its manufacturing sector.

St. Petersburg’s history dates back to 1875 when General John Williams came down from snowy Detroit purchasing 2.3 acres of land with the vision of creating a city of parks and wide streets. Nearly 13 years later, Peter Demens, a native of Russia, brought the Orange Belt Railway to what was later named St. Petersburg after Demen’s beloved place of birth, St. Petersburg, Russia. By 1914, baseball found St. Pete and a long and successful partnership was forged. Branch Rickey, who was known to many as baseball’s most innovative owner, moved his St. Louis Browns team to St. Pete for spring training. Later, the New York Mets were proud to call St. Pete their spring training home for many years. Today, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays train and play their regular season home games at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

By the 1920’s, the city’s architecture underwent a revival reflecting a Mediterranean motif that was seen in prominent buildings, including the Vinoy Hotel, The Princess Martha, and The Snell Arcade. The motif was also evident among the Spanish castles and homes located along Coffee Pot Bayou in the Jungle Prada neighborhood. By the 1940’s, the area became home to the U.S. Coast Guard Station on Bayboro Harbor, which provided a training base for World War II troops as well as anti-submarine patrols over the Gulf of Mexico. Once the war ended, many of the troops that trained in St. Pete returned to live in the area with their families.

By the 1950’s, an invention known as air conditioning brought many retirees down from the north creating a boom in the development of the city’s housing stock. The population swelled as shopping centers were built downtown and others sprang up on the outskirts of the city. Soon after, the Municipal Marina, Bayfront Center, and The Museum of Fine Arts opened. Today, St. Pete proudly boasts seven museums within the downtown district topped off by the world famous Salvador Dali Museum.

The St. Petersburg Housing Authority (SPHA) together with its partner agency, The Pinellas County Housing Authority (PCHA), own and operate public housing communities that house 1,244 families. These agencies also serve more than 5,000 families with housing assistance payments through the Housing Choice Voucher program. In addition, through SPHA’s Hope VI homeownership program, 115 first-time homebuyers were provided homeownership opportunities.

In order to provide housing to low-income residents, SPHA and PCHA have adopted a three-pronged strategy. The first strategy is to divest and redevelop obsolete public housing and invest the proceeds in either affordable rental or homeownership housing. The second is to creatively utilize local, state, federal, and private resources to develop and purchase additional affordable housing units, creating an 80% affordable and 20% public housing eligible mix. The proceeds from the affordable units are used to generate sufficient revenue to subsidize the public housing eligible units and sustain them financially. The final step is to implement efficiency in planning and operations using the economies of scale theory in an effort to reduce operating expenses while simultaneously maintaining a high level of service to the agencies’ residents.

In 2004, shrinking federal subsidies made it necessary for public housing agencies around the country to be creative. In response, four housing agencies in Pinellas County developed a collaborative effort known as the “Economies of Scale” (EOS) initiative. SPHA, PCHA, Clearwater Housing Authority, and Dunedin Housing Authority implemented the EOS initiative to efficiently provide housing services to residents while saving money for taxpayers and participating agencies. The agencies examined their resources, abilities, and skill sets in a number of areas including executive management, information technology, Section 8 administration, financial management, public housing management, and personnel services. Joint determinations were made regarding which agency was best equipped to provide a particular service to the others. Formal inter-local agreements were approved by each respective Board of Commissioners. Using the EOS approach, the participating housing authorities adopted strategies that saved in excess of $500,000 during the first year of implementation. An accumulated savings of $1.7 million has been realized since the inception of the program. The savings are being used to offset the loss of federal funding to improve assets and programs, in addition to being available for use as capital for the acquisition and development of affordable housing.

Jordan Park is one of the many family developments owned by SPHA. This public housing complex, which was originally built between 1938 and 1942 on the south side of St. Petersburg, is situated on 25 acres of land sprinkled with beautiful mature shade trees and royal palms. At the time of its original construction, Jordan Park was comprised of 63 one- and two-story barracks-style buildings containing 446 units. In 1998, SPHA received a $27 million dollar HOPE VI implementation grant for the revitalization of Jordan Park. The HOPE VI grant, along with other governmental, private, and city funding, brought the total for the overall area development to $68 million. One component of the revitalization plan was the construction of a Center for Achievement. The center was developed as a partnership between SPHA, the city of St. Petersburg, and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Subsequently a partnership was formed with St. Petersburg College, which entered into a long-term lease with the Center for Achievement, providing fully accredited college courses in the Jordan Park Community.

Another component of the area’s redevelopment was the creation of the Dr. Carter G. Woodson Museum. The former management office and community building in the old Jordan Park development was renovated to create a museum of African American history in the heart of the Jordan Park community. The museum represents the historic voice of the St. Petersburg community while preserving local, regional, and national history for present and future generations. Today, Jordan Park is a modern family development of 237 units and its revitalization sparked the rebirth of the entire community.

SPHA’s partner agency, Pinellas County, owns three affordable developments that house 951 families and are operated without HUD funding. One of the developments, East Lake Club Community Apartments, is a market rate rental community owned by PCHA and consists of 240 apartments. East Lake Club maintains the 80%-20% mix of low-income and market-rate affordable housing. Built in 1998, this family development is an excellent example of how housing authorities can manage the housing challenges in today’s environment utilizing an increase in the number of affordable units with far less reliance on HUD for funding, while at the same time overcoming the rising costs of land, taxes, and insurance.

Today, a creative management approach, well maintained housing, and a vibrant sense of community echoes loudly from one of HARRG and HAPI’s original members, St. Petersburg Housing Authority. There are more than 900 different local events annually bringing in more than 10 million visitors to St. Petersburg each year. From yacht races to music, professional baseball to sport fishing, cultural events to community innovation, St. Petersburg has become a magnet that combined with its subtropical climate truly reflects the best that the “Gold Coast” of Florida has to offer.