Affordable Senior Housing Coming to St. Petersburg

Blue Sky Communities broke ground on Bear Creek Commons 

 June 5, 2023 — Blue Sky Communities, a leading affordable housing developer, held a groundbreaking at 10am today for Bear Creek Commons, a major addition to St. Petersburg's senior living landscape.

Located at 635 64th Street South, St. Petersburg, FL 33707, Bear Creek Commons is slated for completion in Fall 2024. The senior living community will consist of one building with a total of 85 rental units, including 47 one-bedroom, one-bathroom units and 38 two-bedroom, two-bathroom units.

The ceremony included remarks from Scott Macdonald, Executive Vice President and CFO of Blue Sky Communities; Sen. Nick DiCeglie, State Senator District 18; Kenneth T. Welch, Mayor of the City of St. Petersburg, Florida; Copley Gerdes, St. Petersburg City Councilmember District 1; and Pastor Tim Kelley from Grace Connection Church.

"With Housing Opportunities for All as one of the City's Pillars for Progress, we are working every day to improve housing affordability to address the housing crisis that we're seeing in St. Petersburg and nationwide," said Mayor Kenneth T. Welch. "Bear Creek Commons is a prime example of an impactful public-private innovation and collaboration that's creating a better future for some of our most vulnerable citizens in St. Petersburg. Our seniors and elderly residents- many of them on fixed incomes- are entitled to high-quality affordable housing and that's what Bear Creek Commons will deliver. This is what Inclusive Progress looks like for housing affordability."

The City of St Petersburg's total investment in the project is $6.6 million, which consists of $4.6 million from City funding sources for construction and $2.1 million from the City's Penny Land Trust funds for acquisition and demolition of the former church on the property. Bear Creek Commons was one of the first properties to receive funding from the Penny for Pinellas Affordable Housing Program.

Partners such as Florida Housing Finance Corporation, Pinellas County HFA, Raymond James Affordable Housing Investments, TD Bank, and Raymond James Bank joined to assist with financing the estimated $25 million affordable senior living complex.

Affordable housing is a significant issue for seniors across the United States, and St. Petersburg is no exception. The aging population often faces housing insecurity due to limited, fixed incomes and increased medical expenses. It often takes a community to handle the challenge.

Copley Gerdes, St. Petersburg City Councilmember District 1 touched on this during his speech this morning, telling the crowd, "It's an amazing project that is going to do amazing things and I'm so excited to have this in District one, on the West side of Saint Petersburg. And I was talking to a couple of people last week, this is one of the transformative projects in the West side of Saint Petersburg that I think shows what can happen, what can be, when we all get together and we work together, and we really try to create those opportunities for all."

Bear Creek Commons will be managed by Carteret Management, who has managed affordable housing in St. Petersburg for over 50 years. The property offers a variety of amenities for its future senior residents, including:

• fitness room
• game room
• gazebo
• large back porch
• outdoor recreation space

Carteret will also provide seniors with:

• 24-hour support to assist residents in handling urgent issues
• a resident assurance check-in program
• adult literacy programs
• assistance with light housekeeping, shopping and laundry.

The single-building, four-story, 85-unit property will serve seniors who meet specific Area Median Income (AMI) requirements, including 5 units for those with 22% AMI, 13 units for those with 30% AMI, 48 units for those with 60% AMI, and 19 units for those with 80% of the AMI.

Scott Macdonald, Partner with Blue Sky Communities, expressed his enthusiasm for the project, stating, "Bear Creek Commons is a step in the right direction towards meeting the demand for affordable senior housing in St. Petersburg. We are excited to begin construction and extend our gratitude to our partners for making this project possible. We look forward to this being a community asset serving a great purpose for many decades to come."

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Blue Sky Communities has been inspiring positive change across Florida since its creation in 2012 through its development of high-quality workforce housing. Focused exclusively on homes for households of modest means, Blue Sky Communities is known as one of the area’s leading real estate developers. Blue Sky is a dedicated advocate for nonprofit groups and local governments, helping them reach their affordable housing goals by developing state-of-the-art, environmentally sound, and reasonably priced housing units by both constructing new, and rehabilitating existing, multifamily communities. Through its partnerships, Blue Sky helps to develop neighborhood assets that stakeholders can be proud of for decades.