Moffitt project in downtown St. Pete clears next hurdle on path to development
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Aug 2, 2022

Moffitt Cancer Center’s project is one step closer to reality after the St. Petersburg Community Benefits Advisory Committee voted to recommend the city accept the development team’s community benefits package.

The project is planned for a 4.59-acre site at 800 1st. Ave. S in downtown St. Pete. The proposal is to create a mixed-use project that includes a Moffitt facility, a mixed-use residential tower with ground-floor retail, a future hotel, a public-access parking garage and the UPC headquarters.

Proposed community benefits include:

Apprentice access to Moffitt Cancer Center — which is a more than $75 million investment

Medical tourism business opportunities

More than 250 new jobs at project completion

70 workforce housing units and the waiving of application and administration fees for Pinellas County school teachers and first responders

300 new public parking spaces for nights and weekends

Partnership with St. Pete Works

Minimum of $15 million of subcontracting opportunities for women-owned or minority-owned business enterprises

Horus Construction, a local minority-owned construction company, will oversee $22 million in construction

Elimination of the city’s negative leasehold on the UPC parking lease and future development when market conditions are appropriate

The project will also be certified by either LEED, NGBS or FGBC based on building type and uses.

The city council approved the CBAC in 2021, and the city began appointing members to it this spring. The committee was created to add a “process that considers the social and community impact of major development plans,” according to the city.

The board advises the mayor, city council and citizens of St. Pete on implementing the Community Benefits Agreement Program. The program requires developers to provide community benefits for projects that “receive public assistance greater than 20% of the overall construction cost for projects valued at more than $2 million, or $10 million in public assistance.”

The Moffitt project is the first to go before the CBAC and is spearheaded by Moffitt, TPA Group and UPC Insurance. Barr & Barr will serve as the construction manager.

Frank Hames, director of operations and executive vice president for Barr & Barr’s Southeast region, said the benefit of the St. Pete site is that all of the utilities were designed and ready for permit and pickup, thanks to UPC. He said they are prepared to go to the next round of approval.

Beth Houghton, current vice chair and former chair of Moffitt’s board of directors, said she is “especially engaged by this site” because it is in a location that will serve all of south Pinellas County and “in particular is accessible to south St. Pete.”

“It allows Moffitt to be where I think it really ought to be in south Pinellas County, and that is being in this location where there are bus routes on both the major north/south streets and where there is parking available and in a place that feels comfortable to people across east, west, south and north St. Petersburg and south Pinellas County,” Houghton said.

The workforce housing component expanded from 57 to 70 units. The estimated cost to construct the workforce housing units is $30 million, according to the presentation. There will be 18 units at 80% area median income and 52 units at 120% AMI with a mix of studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units.