Housing authority secures $24M for public housing project

ST. PETERSBURG — The Pinellas County Housing Authority has closed on $24 million in funding to renovate the French Villas public housing apartments in unincorporated Pinellas County. The project received low-income housing tax credits, secured by the housing authority's development partner Norstar Development USA LP, from the Florida Housing Finance Corp. The partners were then able to sell those tax credits to Raymond James Tax Credit Funds Inc. for $16.2 million in construction and permanent financing.

In addition, Pinellas County government has also pledged $300,000 in HOME funds to the project.

The funding will be used to completely gut and rehab all 184 of the French Villas' units and to install new infrastructure and community facilities. Residents are already being relocated and the renovations are scheduled to start this month.