Business View Magazine | October 2020

344 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2020 street parking. The Rosery Apartments adjoin the community street for two full city blocks and abuts the Pinellas Trail, so it has a connection to the major north-south trail system. Because it’s in the redevelopment district, the City has the ability to provide density bonuses in exchange for a portion of the units being set aside for workforce housing. Typically, local governments incentivize affordable housing through housing trust fund grants. In this case, the City simply gave the entitlements to the developer who will be providing those apartments at rates that are affordable to residents that make 80 percent of the average median income and there is no cost to the public. Another developer, Wood Partners, also took another dilapidated mobile home park, again adjacent to the Pinellas Trail, and is beginning construction on a project called Alta Belleair, taking advantage of density bonuses for a 240- unit apartment complex. Within a couple years, there will be about 500 apartment units in that corridor, which should boost the retail and restaurant trade in the redevelopment district. Stricklin acknowledges, “We’re also seeing some hotel development. We have a 118-room, Hilton Home2Suites hotel in our Largo Mall activity center. And a fair amount of infill-type service – a car wash, fast food, retail, banking, also car dealerships. We have a Porsche dealership under construction in our TriCity activity center. Office and manufacturing are also doing well.” Pinellas County has one of the strongest manufacturing bases in Florida with a sophisticated workforce and strengths in medical device manufacturing and aviation. A Fortune 100 firm, Tech Data, is headquartered in Largo. The City is also home to BIC Graphic USA, Melitta USA, and several in the defense and aerospace component industry. It’s estimated that Largo’s population of 85,000 swells by another 50- 60 thousand people a day who come to work there. Medical is also a strong economic driver. A Medical Arts District, just outside of the historic downtown, has a Blue Cross/Blue Shield Brand New 1, 2 & 3 Bedroom Apartment Homes in Largo theroseryapts.com | 727.509.8515 Live life in full bloom.