Infill Development in Pinellas County, FL

Those that have lived here a long time, like Donna and I (who came here in the 50’s and 60’s), have seen a lot of construction and changes in Pinellas County over the years.  We have seen the development of major communities of housing across northern Pinellas through the 1970s and 1980s.  We remember when realty signs would come down during the rainy season waiting for northerners to come down during the dry season when roads were not flooded.  We remember when Holiday Park (started in the late 1950s) was considered the upscale middle-class place to live and beach living was reserved for those that had to live on the water, mostly in cottages before the prominence of air conditioning.  That was a long time ago when many housing projects were commencing. Some were in west St. Petersburg near where Tyrone Mall is now. Others on the barrier islands’ bay-side man-made island communities with properties built by Jack Apple in Treasure Island, or Charles Avanzini in Madeira Beach. Newer inland communities in northern Pinellas were using golf courses to entice people to come and buy.  Now development within the county is almost entirely infill development.  The same is true in parts of Sarasota and Manatee (see my latest Blog Post on our Web site at www.mikedonnare.com) but those counties, like Hillsborough have vast swaths of land to the east to use and abuse.

Pinellas County is essentially fully developed in terms of greenfield land, meaning future growth must primarily occur through infill and redevelopment of existing urbanized areas rather than from open land. Planning documents and redevelopment strategies explicitly note this build-out condition, which increases focus on infill parcels and redevelopment sites for housing, commercial and mixed uses. With very few exceptions, and even those are redevelopment like the Wagon Wheel Flea Market and Mustang sites, redevelopment in Pinellas is primarily smaller infill developments of less than 5 acres. The county’s PLANPinellas Comprehensive Plan (effective 2023) is the primary policy document directing land use decisions across the unincorporated county and helps inform municipal plans. Key planning directions include Future Land Use Categories that accommodate and emphasize mixed-use and higher-density residential infill within designated activity centers and corridors. These commitments indicate that infill development on 2–5-acre parcels will be prioritized within defined urban corridors, activity centers, and redevelopment districts rather than scattered residential neighborhoods.  There is also the 2025–2029 Pinellas County Consortium Consolidated Plan that underscores housing needs, including production/rehabilitation of affordable housing, demolition, code enforcement and site development support. It all feeds into infill and redevelopment activity in cities and unincorporated areas. In addition, redevelopment and opportunity zones (Brownfield and CRA areas) are actively promoted as frameworks to catalyze infill investment on underused sites, especially for commercial development.

For brevity, I’ll leave out St Petersburg and those projects already get publicity.  In Clearwater key trends include North Greenwood Redevelopment. Their CRA plan encourages redevelopment and infill housing, including updates to city codes and design standards tailored to existing communities. In addition, the City’s investment with the ongoing city hall and municipal campus construction indicate a commitment to stimulating adjacent private investment.  This is often a precursor to infill on nearby parcels.

Largo’s continues to emphasize major mixed-use projects, like Horizon West Bay, which are underway, focusing on intensified land use around West Bay Drive. This follows the numerous apartment complexes built along Alternate 19 in recent years.  Pinellas Park will likely see incremental infill housing and redevelopment projects on newly annexed parcels, especially where zoning accommodates medium densities. Smaller cities are expected to concentrate infill incrementally within downtown cores or CRA boundaries, with a mix of single-family densification and small multifamily where it is allowed by local comprehensive plans aligned with PLANPinellas.

Redevelopment projects sometimes face community concerns about scale and compatibility.  NIMBY. These include affordable housing initiatives, Land Use, and transportation planning which can influence project design and approval timelines.

All barrier island cities (Clearwater Beach, Treasure Island, Madeira Beach, Redingtons, Indian Rocks Beach, St. Pete Beach, Pass-a-Grille, etc.) still sit under PLANPinellas, and local comprehensive plans & zoning. However, coastal construction rules still seem to supersede density enthusiasm.  Those include FEMA Flood Zones (AE / VE), Coastal High Hazard Areas (CHHA), Florida Coastal Construction Control Line (CCCL) and for residential development the Substantial Damage / Substantial Improvement Rule (50% rule).  This means more assemblage of older motels, small condos, and duplexes.  Sites will likely convert to fewer but higher-value units with townhomes, luxury condos, and boutique resort redevelopment with elevated structures with parking / storage below.  You won’t see as many low-rise, low-elevation properties and garden apartments.

Some communities like Treasure Island & Madeira Beach seem to be trending toward full parcel redevelopment with fewer units, higher price points, longer entitlement timelines.  Others like Clearwater Beach still seem to favor larger redevelopment that is tourism dominated and FEMA compliant.  Still others like Indian Rocks Beach and the Redingtons seem to be holding onto Strong preservation politics that is very sensitive to height, and parking. People may argue whether St. Pete Beach / Pass-a-Grille are more or less sophisticated in their planning depending upon your vantage point, but they seem have a some willingness to negotiate redevelopment with public reaction still in play.

Financing Has Quietly Changed the Game with post-storm, lenders now routinely requiring FEMA compliance verification, higher insurance reserves, proof of storm-hardening design and lower loan-to-cost ratios.  These tend to filter out small developers and favor well-capitalized developers, associations redeveloping as a group, or institutional hospitality players.  Neither good nor bad.  It just is…  The Strategic Sweet Spot may be assemblage of nonconforming structures or parcels already partially compliant. Lastly, uses that tolerate reduced unit density like luxury housing and boutique hospitality may remain attractive to some.

The Takeaways for Developers are:

• Beach Infill is best suited to:
  ✔ High-end residential or mixed-use projects with strong pricing
  ✔ Investors who can tolerate premium compliance costs
  ✔ Developers with experience navigating coastal engineering and approvals
• Mainland Infill is best suited to:
  ✔ Workforce housing, multifamily, and mixed-use that prioritizes stable cost structures
  ✔ Projects where predictability of cost, timeline, and financing are essential
  ✔ Locations where community and infrastructure capacity are robust