St. Petersburg’s planned police K-9 facility has found itself at the center of an entirely different conversation.
Gov. Ron DeSantis recently vetoed $350,000 that would have helped fund the project on 22nd Avenue S. “That $350,000 would have been helpful,” said St. Petersburg Police Department communications officer Ken Knight. “We plan to see what other sources we can use.”
What those sources might be, however, is not clear. Knight explained that they are “figuring out a way to move forward,” but have no confirmed source for alternative funding.
Meanwhile, developers competing to redevelop nearby Commerce Park are now asking the city for the very parcel where the K-9 facility was planned.
SPPD wants to build the facility on roughly 2.6 acres adjacent to Commerce Park, replacing aging kennels with a modern headquarters featuring training space, veterinary facilities, indoor and outdoor kennels and administrative offices.
But two of the redevelopment teams say the city could unlock far greater value by incorporating that land into Commerce Park instead.
HP Capital’s proposal, dubbed Corridor 22, asks the city to expand the redevelopment footprint to include the K-9 parcel. In return, the developer would purchase approximately 6.25 acres for $5 million and build 320 mixed-income apartments, a 75,000-square-foot innovation center, neighborhood retail, restaurants, a grocery store and a 25,000-square-foot public plaza.
SkyView Companies offers a different solution. Rather than eliminating the police project, SkyView proposes relocating it through a land swap. Under the proposal, the city would receive another parcel suitable for the K-9 facility while freeing the Commerce Park site for redevelopment. In exchange, SkyView would construct the largest residential project among the seven finalists: 422 apartments with ground-floor retail and structured parking.
The city did not always intend to build the K-9 facility at Commerce Park. Procurement documents show officials previously evaluated the Public Safety Training Complex before ultimately selecting the current site.
The governor’s veto now adds another variable for the city to solve, potentially making the developer’s proposals more appealing. Without the $350,000 appropriation, the city must identify a new funding source regardless of where the facility is ultimately built.