LEALMAN - Construction has started on a multimillion-dollar apartment complex that will provide housing for low-income families in this unincorporated area.
Northside Villas, a 43-unit complex of three-bedroom, two-bath apartments, is a joint effort of Pinellas County and Contemporary Housing Alternatives of Florida, a not-for-profit corporation. The county and Signature Bank are funding the $4.1-million project at 2775 50th Ave. N.
It is expected to be finished a year from now.
"It is a good thing....This will be a stimulus for redevelopment in the whole area," said Frank Bowman, the county official who oversees issues in the Lealman area. "What it's replacing was real bad."
The 2.84 acres were occupied by two largely abandoned cottage courts and old mobile homes, Bowman said. Typically, a cottage court is set up like an old motel - several 400-square-foot, standalone buildings connected by a roadway.
In this case, people broke into the buildings and camped out there.
"It was almost a blighting influence on the neighborhood," Bowman said.
The few people who lived in the cottage courts were relocated to other properties owned by Contemporary Housing, said Larry Yancey, a senior community planning specialist with the county. In one case, he said, officials found a single-family home for a homeowner who was displaced.
The Northside Villas project is the third complex that Contemporary Housing has helped build in the unincorporated Lealman area. The other two, at 2700 and 2550 52nd Ave. N, also built in partnership with Pinellas County.
All three target low-income families. The idea is to provide a nice place to live that's run by people who will make sure the properties are maintained.
