Mayor Pam Iorio met with Gov. Charlie Crist on Tuesday to seek his support for state and federal funding to jump-start a stalled affordable-housing project.
Iorio and other local officials are seeking $34 million in state and federal stimulus money for the Encore project, a public-private venture to redevelop the former Central Park Village public housing complex off Nebraska Avenue, between downtown and Ybor City.
While no commitments were made at the meeting, Iorio said she remains hopeful that Crist will throw his support behind additional state and federal funds for the project.
"Central Park redevelopment is not only key to the redevelopment of the downtown core, but we also need to fulfill the promise that we made to the residents when we tore down those public housing units," Iorio said. "That they would be rebuilt as something better."
Encore is being developed by the Tampa Housing Authority and Bank of America. Plans call for 667 affordable-housing rental units and more than 600 market-rate condos.
The $425 million project was approved in June 2006, and a year later, the Central Park Village apartments were demolished. The vacant site has been idle as officials struggled to secure funding needed for road and sewer infrastructure improvements.
Project backers have applied to the Department of Housing and Urban Development for $28 million in stimulus dollars. They want the state to contribute $6 million in funding.
And if the funding doesn't come through?
"We'll just keep trying," Iorio said. "We'll never give up on it. We've come too far."
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