Tampa Housing Authority Approves Robles Park Village Redevelopment

Property Markets Group and Baker Barrios Architects are partnering to redevelop Robles Park Village, a master plan community in the Tampa Heights neighborhood in Florida. The new community will focus on health and wellness and financial well being with mixed-income housing options. Tampa Housing Authority has approved the redevelopment plan.

Once complete, the redeveloped Robles Park Village will feature 1,012 housing units, including market-rate, townhomes and senior housing with 85% of the community qualifying as affordable. As a result, the property will double the supply of low-income rental housing in the development. In addition to the rental housing, the development will also offer for-sale opportunities through 77 townhomes.

As part of the approved plans, the development team will also address several community concerns. The master plan will include a technology-outfitted 50,000-square-foot resource center with several services, including career education with mentoring programs and after school care, functional co-working space, financial services, health services and a fitness center. The center will also offer outdoor spaces. Speaking about the mixed-income quality of the property, Tim Baker, CEO and founding principal of BBA said, “Our goal was to deliver a plan that creates greater equity, economic mobility.”

In addition, the development will honor the Black history of the community and neighborhood and the cultural significance of the Zion Cemetery, which was discovered at the Robles Park Village site. The plans include an on-site memorial and museum overseen Zion Cemetery Preservation & Maintenance Society.

Florida’s multifamily market is taking off and it is attracting a lot of capital. Already this year, BH Equities has sold a 517-unit multifamily property in St. Petersburg to New York-based, Axonic Properties LLC for $56 million; Amzak Capital Management and the Focus Group have sold a 1,011-unit, five-property multifamily portfolio in Orlando and Tampa for $101.3 million; and Investors Management Group Inc. has sold a 230-unit multifamily community in Port St. Lucie, Fla., to Covenant Capital Group for $41.6 million.