Advisory group’s affordable housing requests barely in Gas Plant agreement

At the start of the year, a group of nine people spent five weeks figuring out if the city’s investment into what is likely its largest redevelopment project — the Historic Gas Plant District — is worth the promised benefits.

The group’s weekly meetings went into the wee hours, often ending with more than an hour of public comment. Its one job was to approve or reject a $50 million package by the Tampa Bay Rays and the club’s development partner Hines to build an African American history museum, fund affordable housing and support minority-owned businesses. In the end, group members voted 7-2 to approve it.

The group, the Community Benefits Advisory Council, also took several unanimous votes recommending the stakes should be raised to guarantee a key part of the project is affordable housing, which is a top priority for Mayor Ken Welch. It was also the biggest concern among public speakers at their meetings.

Yet those recommendations were mostly left out of a legally binding document released Thursday that details what the Gas Plant project will be and how it would come together. City Council members, who will vote on the deal, are scheduled to watch a May 9 project presentation that makes no mention of the advisory group’s work.

Most of the advisory group members reached by the Tampa Bay Times said their role was just that, advisory, and it’s up to the City Council to implement their recommendations. The group’s vice chairperson, Jason Mathis, said the advisory group offers the public a way to engage and learn more about the development. He was the first to question the low financial penalties for opting out of building affordable housing.

“The folks who are actually elected by the voters of St. Pete get to decide what parts of our advice, if any, they want to use,” Mathis, who voted for the benefits package, wrote in a text to the Times. “(The Community Benefits Advisory Council) did exactly what it was designed to do.”

Some said they weren’t surprised to see their recommendations not included. Advisory member Brooks Wallington said it was “unfortunate” those suggestions, which include one he made to set aside money for rental assistance, weren’t put to paper, but that they were secondary to the group’s task.

“If it wasn’t included, that doesn’t surprise me because there’s still quite a bit of negotiation that will go on,” said advisory member Debbie Reeser.

Others said they were disappointed in what did wind up in the most complete agreement to date. Advisory member Ruth Whitney, who led the charge to increase financial penalties for not building affordable housing on time, called the current penalties “inadequate.” She also voted for the total package.

“I think we made some good recommendations,” Whitney said. “You don’t always expect your things to be approved, but I think we did our best.”

City Council member Gina Driscoll said city officials told her their plan was to not add much of the advisory group’s recommendations and let council members make that call. She said she would like to see financial penalties for affordable housing be in the “sweet spot” that is higher than the current penalties in the agreement but lower than the figures recommended by the advisory group.

Driscoll also said the community benefits process worked the way it was meant to.

The advisory group’s efforts never made it this far on the other city project it was assigned. That project, a proposed Moffitt Cancer Center in downtown St. Petersburg, was rejected by the mayor in 2022 for not providing enough affordable housing. The advisory council took issue with the number of affordable units, but still voted in favor of it. That deal never came before the City Council.

City Council member John Muhammad, who has criticized the city’s deal with the Rays, advocated for the creation of the Community Benefits Agreement. He said he was disappointed that the draft plan doesn’t include more of the advisory group’s recommendations.

“It shows that we’re not listening to the community. And that’s unfortunate,” he said. ”If we find that that voice is being ignored or not listened to, then that’s problematic for me and it will affect the way that I vote.”

“It could lead to the view that the (Community Benefits Advisory Council) is nothing but window dressing,” said advisory member Bruce Nissen, one of the two no votes.

The Rays and Hines are proposing 1,250 affordable and workforce homes combined on and off the Gas Plant property. Penalties for not building all the homes promised start at $25,000, increasing in future years.

The group recommended that the Rays and Hines should face stiffer penalties for not starting construction of affordable housing on time. It recommended raising penalties by as much as $150,000 per unit adjusting for inflation. And it suggested moving up construction for 300 affordable workforce units to 2028 instead of two years later.

The advisory council recommended that $5 million of the $15 million for affordable housing be put into a community trust with some other money set aside for rental assistance. None of that is included in the agreement, and there is no mention of any financial commitment or penalty adjusting for inflation.

What was included from the group’s recommendations: A requirement that 15% of construction work should be done by disadvantaged workers, which by the city’s definition includes veterans, people with criminal records and those without a GED or high school diploma. An equal amount of work would go to apprentices.

Also, the group recommended that 10% of all transactions in the development involve minority businesses. The city went further to add an $850,000 penalty for every 10 years the Rays and Hines don’t reach the minority business goal. If that is not met after 30 years, the Rays and Hines would face a fine of almost $1.7 million.

The advisory group was made up of people who live or work in St. Petersburg appointed by the mayor and the City Council, plus one Council member. Chairperson Deborah Figgs-Sanders, who helped create the Community Benefits Agreement, filled that slot. She did not respond to requests for comment.

City Council vice chairperson Copley Gerdes, a supporter of the deal, said the increased penalties show that the Rays and Hines are listening.

”We would love to have those things but we’re not going to get all of them,” Gerdes said. “And the Rays and Hines aren’t getting everything they wanted from us either.”

In a statement, city spokesperson Erica Riggins said any additional request made by the advisory group “is at the city’s discretion and will be a consideration moving forward.”

Tampa Bay Rays President Matt Silverman gave a statement also on the behalf of the Rays and Hines’ partnership. Hines’ senior managing director, Michael Harrison, told the advisory group that when requirements are added, something else in the deal would have to be subtracted.

“The completion of this agreement is the product of more than a year of collaboration, and we extend our gratitude to Mayor Welch and the entire city administration for their dedication,” Silverman said. “We look forward to engaging with the City Council as we head toward final approvals in the coming weeks.”

Clarification: This story has been clarified to say that Tampa Bay Rays President Matt Silverman’s statement was on the behalf of the Rays and Hines’ partnership.