Tampa CRA delays $5 million East Tampa housing grant after budget questions

The Tampa Community Redevelopment Agency board on Wednesday voted to continue consideration of a $5,000,000 special-projects grant request for an East Tampa affordable housing project, saying members needed clearer budget detail on how the award would affect other CRA housing programs.

Developer Thad Beirdre of Urban Reworks offered a voluntary, contract-ready affordability commitment for the project, proposing 12 units at 80% area median income (AMI), six units at 50% AMI, two units at 30% AMI and two ADA-accessible units, and a 50-year affordability lock on the restricted units. Beirdre said the concessions increase the private-equity hurdle and change project cash flow: “That creates a timing issue that's a budget,” he said.

Board members said they supported the project in principle but were not comfortable approving the funding without a clearer accounting of the East Tampa CRA’s creation-and-conversion funds and other housing commitments. Bea Parks, community development coordinator, told the board the creation-and-conversion line item currently stood at about $2,000,000; staff also said the CAC had recommended a larger allocation to housing (noted as above the mandated 30%). Cedric McCray, Tampa CRA director, explained staff would present a fuller budget and projections at the July meeting.

Councilman Clinton moved — and Councilman Carlson seconded — to continue the item to the July meeting; the board approved the continuance. Earlier, Carlson had proposed approving the $5,000,000 award; that motion was withdrawn after members asked for more time and data.

Discussion and financial context

Board members repeatedly raised the risk that approving the full $5 million would consume the creation-and-conversion pot for multiple years. Staff said a three-year payout schedule for the request would equate to roughly $1.67 million per year; with current allocations, that approach “would take all the money,” a board member said. Parks said $1,500,000 remained in the CRA’s creation-and-conversion line after current commitments; staff also referenced a $5,500,000 total figure tied to broader CAC recommendations.

Members asked staff to return with a clear, visual budget: current fiscal-year balances by line item, year-to-year projections of the proposed award, and an accounting of how the grant would affect down-payment assistance, housing rehab, strategic acquisitions and other programs. The board set deadline expectations: staff will bring the detailed budget to the July meeting and agreed to schedule a September 11 session led by Parks to review benchmarking and the CRA’s unit-cost chart.

What was decided and what follows

The board’s formal action was a continuance; no award or contract was approved. Staff will compile and present detailed CRA budget projections and scenarios for how a $5 million multi‑year drawdown would affect other housing programs. Urban Reworks committed in the meeting transcript to contractually restrict the specified low-AMI units and to accept CRA payments on the same drawdown schedule as construction draws, subject to the timing changes described by the developer.

Speakers quoted and referenced in this article spoke during the agenda item on the Urban Reworks special-projects grant request. The item will return to the board in July with the requested budget detail.