In recent days, there has been a great deal of confusion over who owns Jordan Park Apartments and what is being done to help the low-income residents who live there. As Chief Executive Officer of the St. Petersburg Housing Authority (SPHA), I would like an opportunity to address community concerns and to provide the facts.
SPHA’s mission is to provide a variety of safe, sanitary, accessible, decent, and affordable housing to eligible citizens of the city of St. Petersburg, and we take this mission very seriously.
In 2001, SPHA was the first housing authority in the state of Florida to receive low income housing tax credits and one of the first in the nation to receive a HOPE VI redevelopment grant. This $27 million grant agreement with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), private developers, investors, and other partners made possible the renovation of Jordan Park Apartments, the city’s oldest public housing property, into the 24 acre development with 237 units in 104 buildings that exists today.