With skyrocketing housing prices across the area over the last few years, the City of St. Pete has made a concerted effort to not only seek out, but to even help fund workforce and affordable housing developments. Today, the latest development to open its doors celebrated a ribbon cutting, with Sixteenth Square Townhomes now open.

Along with developer Namaste Homes, Mayor Ken Welch and the city officially welcomed 11 new townhomes to St. Pete, all of which are priced for workforce housing. The single-family, 3-bedroom, 2 1/2-bathroom units have a sales price of approximately $271,000, available 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.

Notably, Sixteenth Square Townhomes adds attainable housing in South St. Pete, and the development was partially funded by the South St. Pete Community Redevelopment Area (CRA), which was established to promote reinvestment in housing and neighborhoods, commercial corridors, business development, and education and workforce development within the area. The South St. Pete CRA has committed $1,056,000 as an incentive to Namaste Homes to develop these 11 workforce housing townhomes.

“The Sixteenth Square Townhomes are a prime example of CRA dollars at work,” Welch said. “Partnerships with developers like Namaste help to make homeownership 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.”

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 stpete.org/AffordableHousing.