City council members unanimously approved plans to provide 54 affordable rental units at the former site of a South St. Petersburg cultural landmark Thursday, despite the previous property owner’s pleas.
Fort Lauderdale-based Green Mills Group will pay $100 annually for the now-vacant .68-acre site along 22nd Street South, colloquially known as the Deuces. The $20 million project, dubbed Heritage Grove, will offer nine apartments for residents who earn less than 30% of the area median income (AMI), $25,050 for a two-person household.
Mayor Ken Welch’s administration selected Green Mills over proposals from South St. Pete resident Elihu Brayboy, who led the Tall Cotton Initiative, and Fort Lauderdale-based Alexander Goshen/Goode Van Slyk Architecture. Brayboy sold the property – once home to several African-American-owned businesses during the city’s Jim Crow era – for $100 in 2023 to settle a city lien…