St. Pete gives affordable housing developer $10.5M for projects

Blue Sky Communities will build 151 affordable housing units after the St. Petersburg City Council approved $10.5 million in funding for two projects in the city.

The city is giving Blue Sky, an affordable housing developer, $4 million for an 85-unit senior living community at 64th Street South that will be called Bear Creek Commons. And it will give $6.5 million for 66 units that will make up the second phase of SkyWay Lofts on 34th Street South.

The money from the city is a big help, but just a portion of the cost to build the properties. The cost of the SkyWay Lofts project is $22 million, and the Bear Creek Commons project will cost $26 million.

Blue Sky, which was founded in 2012 and has completed more than 20 affordable housing complexes, is experienced in finding funding sources for these types of projects whether it public funds, private funds, grants, credits or a combination.

Phase one of SkyWay Lofts, a development for working families, opened in March.  The complex is in the city’s Skyway Marina District.

Bear Creek will be a 55 and over community with one- and two-bedroom units. Blue Sky expects to break ground early next year with the first residents moving in late 2024.

Scott Macdonald, Blue Sky’s executive vice president and CFO, says in a statement that “both of these developments are redevelopments of old properties that outlived their useful life, and thus represent the rejuvenation of some of St. Petersburg’s older areas.”

The funding was approved at a city council meeting Thursday, Oct. 20.