Affordable housing complex opens in Ybor City

Tampa city officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday to celebrate the grand opening of a multimillion-dollar affordable housing community in Ybor City. 

Casa Maceo Apartments is a 10-unit, multifamily complex at 2104 E. Columbus Drive, bordering East Tampa and Ybor City.

The apartment complex offers three-bedroom, two-bathroom units for households earning 80% of the area median income or less, according to a release. That’s roughly $67,000 annually or below for a two-person household in Tampa, according to 2025 federal Department of Housing and Urban Development and state income limits. 

For a family of four, that is roughly $83,000 a year or less, the release states. 

The city of Tampa partnered with Pittman Design Group to develop the new apartment complex. Partners Dontavious Pittman, Kevin Johnson and Ponce McNeal were awarded a $3 million grant from the state affordable housing program in 2023 to redevelop a vacant plot in Ybor City into Casa Maceo Apartments.

All three men are Tampa natives, the release states, and attended Tampa Bay Technical High School before graduating together from Florida A&M University in Tallahassee.

When it came time to build their careers, the trio returned to Tampa, building a team of homegrown talent and “giving back to the very neighborhoods that shaped them,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor says in the release.

“This development is more than just new housing,” Castor says. “It’s a testament to what happens when local visionaries invest in their own community to make Tampa a place where everyone can afford to live and thrive.”

The new apartment complex gets its name from Antonio Maceo, a 19th century Afro-Cuban military leader who fought two wars for Cuban independence, famously suffering 24 battle wounds.

Casa Maceo Apartments will offer six units at 50% area median income and below, and four units at 80% and below, the release states. Each apartment features luxury vinyl plank flooring, stainless steel appliances and quartz countertops.

The complex has an affordability period of 30 years, according to the release, and is currently accepting applications from prospective residents.