City Council approved nearly $482,000 in South St. Petersburg Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) funding Thursday for Habitat for Humanity of Pinellas County’s affordable housing development, The Grove.
The funding will reimburse Habitat up to $481,852.14 for the construction of The Grove Townhomes, an 11-unit affordable homeownership community at 1805 18th Ave. S.
Unlike many housing projects that come before council seeking funding before construction begins, The Grove is already built.
Habitat completed construction in late 2025 and had already sold seven of the 11 townhomes by late May, according to city documents. Three additional homes were under contract and a buyer had been selected for the final unit.
“This is homeownership for real people,” said council member Gina Driscoll during the City Council meeting, “and “Habitat is making it happen.”
But Habitat identified a funding gap stemming from the income levels of the families who purchased the homes. The average household income among buyers is 70.3% of Area Median Income (AMI), with incomes ranging from 62% to 78% of AMI. Because Habitat sold the homes to lower-income families, the organization was unable to fully recover its development costs through home sales and requested CRA funding to close the gap.
According to city documents, the total development cost was approximately $3.89 million, or about $353,805 per unit. The city’s contribution amounts to roughly $43,805 per home.
The city had already invested in the project before Thursday’s vote.
In 2023, St. Petersburg conveyed the property to Habitat for Humanity for $10. The land carried an appraised value of $308,500, according to the staff report.
Combined with the newly approved CRA funding, public support for the project totals nearly $790,000.
The Grove consists of 11 three-bedroom townhomes sold to households earning at or below 80% of AMI.To keep monthly housing costs affordable, buyers received 0% fixed-rate mortgages, no down payment requirements and no private mortgage insurance. Habitat also provided homeownership education focused on budgeting, home maintenance and homeowners association management.
The funding comes from the South St. Petersburg CRA’s tax increment financing district, which captures growth in property tax revenues and reinvests those dollars back into redevelopment projects within the district.
City officials said the funding is consistent with the South St. Petersburg Community Redevelopment Plan, which identifies affordable housing as one of its core priorities.
The project also carries affordability restrictions recorded against the property.
Habitat’s request was first reviewed by the South St. Petersburg CRA Citizen Advisory Committee on June 2. The committee recommended approval before the item advanced to the CRA board and City Council, ultimately granting Habitat the funds.
“This is a realistic dream for a regular working-class family,” said Councilmember Corey Givens, moments before the council unanimously voted, yes, “I’m so excited to see this go up in my district.”
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