PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. – The St. Petersburg Tenants Union calls it an increasingly rare happening in the city: apartments that rent for less than $1,000 a month.

For residents of the Greenland Apartments on Seventh Avenue North, that was the reality for decades.

But now, they’re bracing for rent increases as new ownership takes over.

What You Need To Know

St. Pete’s Greenland Apartments residents are looking at monthly hikes of anywhere from $600-to-a little less than $1,000

The highest rent at the complex was $780.

“Unfortunately, to keep the current market rent, it is lower than 50% of what the value for market rent in this neighborhood is,” said Greenland Property Manager Tim McGinnis, who said improvements to the complex are underway

Residents are looking at monthly hikes of anywhere from $600-to-a little less than $1,000.

The highest rent at the complex was $780.

According to the apartment’s new property manager, prices had to be raised to account for planned improvements and rising costs.

Some tenants said the increased costs will push them out.  

“I concluded he (manager) kind of kept it below market rate because I assumed he preferred long term tenants than a constant turnover,” said Tracy Gayton, a Greenland resident. “You know, he got ’em. He got people to stay here a long time.”

Including Gayton, who lived at Greenland for 11 years.

Property Manager Tim McGinnis said rents at Greenland ranged from $600 to $830. The increases will create a new range of $1,250 for a studio to nearly $2,200 for a two-bedroom. (Spectrum News image)

He said as he watched rent prices rise around town, his one-bedroom apartment never got above $760 a month. When Urban Core Properties bought the family-owned complex last month, he expected an increase.

“I have to confess,” he said. “It went up more than expected. I wasn’t expecting, I think it’s a 128% increase in my case.”

Gayton says his new rent would be just more than $1,700.

Meanwhile, Property Manager Tim McGinnis said rents at Greenland ranged from $600 to $830. The increases will create a new range of $1,250 for a studio to nearly $2,200 for a two-bedroom.

“Unfortunately, to keep the current market rent, it is lower than 50% of what the value for market rent in this neighborhood is,” said McGinnis, who added that improvements to the complex are underway. “The tax increases, as well as the cost of insurance, as well as construction for those renovations, has almost tripled in the last three years.”

William Kilgore with the St. Petersburg Tenant Union says prices like Greenland’s are pretty much unheard of in the city, and recent years have been challenging for renters.

“Supposedly, the rent prices have kind of stabilized,” said Kilgore. “But they’re still 30% higher than what they were before the pandemic. So, people have been squeezed. People who are paying are still paying over half their income on rent.”

Gayton said he’s moving out next month, even though he can afford the increase.

That’s not the case for some of his neighbors, who are seeing rents go up from $780 to nearly $1,600.

Meanwhile, McGinnis said he expects about half of Greenland’s 18 units will be vacant next month.

He said tenants who choose to stay are being offered up to $1,800 in discounts to sign an 18-month lease term. Rent increases are expected to take place gradually during the first quarter of 2026.

According to Zillow, the average rent in St. Petersburg is $2,200 a month. Apartments.com said it’s about $1,700 and Rent Cafe said $2,000.

All of those prices fall within or very close to Greenland’s new range.