As rising seas, stronger storms and skyrocketing insurance costs reshape where people choose to live, one St. Petersburg developer says the answer isn’t retreating from vulnerable waterfront neighborhoods – it’s building them differently and making new development pay for the added risk.
During a recent panel discussion at the Palladium Theater on climate change and housing, Mack Feldman, vice president of asset management for Feldman Equities, briefly floated an idea that sparked a larger conversation: Pair new development opportunities in portions of the city’s Coastal High Hazard Area with impact fees dedicated to flood resilience infrastructure.
In a follow-up interview with the Catalyst, Feldman expanded on the proposal, arguing that the city should embrace carefully planned redevelopment in some coastal neighborhoods rather than slowly abandoning them…