Tampa Commercial Real Estate Price Attracted Housing Officials

Published by nora | Filed under Market Trends, Miscellaneous, Mortgage / Finance, Real Estate

The reduced price of a Tampa commercial real estate building attracted officials of the Tampa Housing Authority and pushed them to work out the purchase of the building despite opposition from the mayor of Tampa and another housing official.

Earlier this month, the Tampa Housing Authority announced its commitment to buy the 64,000-square-foot 25-year-old building at 5301 W Cypress St. in the West Shore area for $4.2 million.  Mayor Pam Iorio was against the plan, but did not pursue further moves to oppose the plan after realizing that the Housing Authority has already started negotiations for the purchase. Although it was the mayor who appointed the seven housing commissioners, she can’t overrule their decisions.

One of the housing commissioners, RubinPadgett, is also against the purchase plan, arguing that there are other ways to make the old building where they currently work accommodate growing operations. His statements point to the fact that the money set aside for the building could be used to build more low-cost housing for the disadvantaged.

He also described other remedies that could have been considered, such as renovating a nearby building that was damaged by fire recently, or building a structure on a city-owned block at 34th and Chipco streets.

In response to criticisms about the purchase of the Tampa commercial real estate building, Tampa Housing Authority officials explained that the current office in North Boulevard Homes, the oldest public housing project in Tampa, is no longer adequate for private and fruitful discussions between housing counselors and subsidized housing residents because of the jammed hallways and work areas.

Agency officials also pointed out the fact that they need more staff to attend to a growing number of people needing subsidized housing. They reported that an estimated 12,000 residents who have applied for public housing are still on waiting lists. While private housing in the city has about 85-percent occupancy, public housing has almost 100 percent.

According to the housing authority, $2.5 million will come from the nonprofit North Tampa Housing Development Corp. and $1.7 million will come from surplus from Section 8 housing administrative funds.The other major reason cited by housing officials is the discounted price of the building.

They explained that it was the right time to buy. The $4.2 million purchase price was substantially lower than the $6 million sales price in 2006 and the $4.7 million recent appraisal. Indeed, the Tampa commercial real estate market, just like most others, is still a buyer’s market.

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