Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Fate of housing project to wait

By AARON SHAROCKMAN
Published April 18, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - A group tasked to explore alternatives to selling the city's largest public housing complex largely avoided the topic when it met for the first time Tuesday.

The advisory committee, formed by the St. Petersburg Housing Authority, talked about the residents and demographics of the complex called Graham-Rogall.

Members discussed places where Graham-Rogall's 300 residents could possibly move.

They wondered aloud if subsidized housing, formerly called Section 8, could become culturally acceptable.

But when the fate of the Graham-Rogall came up - at the end of an hourlong meeting at Graham-Rogall's auditorium - the room fell silent.

And with that, St. Petersburg Housing Authority board member and committee chairman Walt Smyth called the meeting adjourned.

Afterward, Smyth said the meeting was organizational, and that the group may meet again in a week. Securing money to pay for renovations to the 486-unit complex near Tropicana Field will eventually be discussed, he said.

Time is running short.

The Housing Authority agreed in February to impose a 90-day moratorium on the sale of the complex to a condominium developer and form a blue-ribbon task force. The purpose, officials said at the time, was to determine if there were ways to save the property as affordable for-rent housing.

Smyth said he was unaware if any of those discussions had taken place.

The committee, which was provided talking points and listed goals by the Housing Authority staff, discussed ways to identify apartments that were willing to take in Graham-Rogall's residents.

Authority deputy director Debbie Johnson, also a committee member, said that 27 residents had already relocated from Graham-Rogall to other apartments.

Members also said the Housing Authority would need to educate landlords on the positive aspects of providing subsidized housing.

They called it a first step to dispelling rumors that residents will be "left on the streets."

[Last modified April 18, 2007, 02:54:24]