To make St. Petersburg more affordable, we need a little creativity and a lot of experience. We have opportunities to drive down the cost of living here, and City Hall has the power to seize those opportunities. For example, we can put city-owned properties to work creating affordable homes.

There are thousands of properties on the city’s lien and code violation list. In many cases, the City takes ownership of these properties and demolishes them. Some buildings cannot be saved and should be demolished. But others can be renovated to become a first home for local families. 

Before demolishing a city-owned house, we should determine whether it can be safely and inexpensively restored. If so, the City or the City’s nonprofit partners can renovate and then lease or sell the home at a genuinely affordable price to our neighbors. I recommend targeting  households earning between 50% and 80% of the area median income. Proceeds from sales would help finance future renovations, making the program sustainable and driving down rents over time.

I know this can work because I spent years rehabilitating housing and persuading investors to create affordable homes. That work taught me to look carefully at what an existing property can become. My service on the city’s Affordable Housing Advisory Committee and Affordable Housing Lot Disposition Committee also gave me experience addressing these challenges from the public side.

Turning city-owned properties into affordable housing is just one area where St Petersburg can make life more affordable for residents. For existing homeowners, for example, foreclosure prevention assistance can help keep a setback from becoming the loss of a home. The key thing is to listen and to make affordability a priority.

I spent nine years managing properties in St. Petersburg. I encouraged the owners, a private group, to prioritize affordability, so they did. We also worked with local partners, including the St. Petersburg Housing Authority, Boley Centers, and Catholic charities, to make homes available to low-income families. Forty percent of our homes went to tenants using housing choice vouchers. We made low rents a priority for market rate renters, too.

When some tenants struggled to make rent, I talked with them. Those conversations led me to suggest splitting rent into two payments, one on the first and another on the 15th. The owners agreed to wait longer for full payment. With more time, renters were able to pay. Everyone benefited.

These kinds of win-win scenarios are possible when you focus on solving the problem instead of being fixated on how things have always been done. In the midst of an affordability crisis, we need a new playbook.

I grew up here in St Pete, and I returned here after my baseball career. I came back because this community is home. As a father of four daughters and as a youth coach, I want St. Pete’s children to be able to build a life here. The city can help by preserving homes and making ownership attainable for more families.