New Peary Court deal proposed by Weekley

New Peary Court deal proposed by Weekley

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

Key West City Commissioner Jimmy Weekley just can’t walk away from Peary Court.

Having led a failed effort to convince voters to purchase the moderate-income rental housing complex for $55 million, Weekley has moved on to what he is calling, “Plan B.” It won’t involve any taxpayer money but explores increasing the number of buildings allowed on the 24-acre property, called building “density,” in return for boosting the number of affordable units on the site.

As part of the proposed redevelopment of Peary Court, the owners of the property, White Street Partners, agreed to hold onto two-plus acres and build 48 new units of affordable housing. With the city purchase deal now dead, White Street Partners is actively looking for a new buyer. Weekley said he has heard that up to four prospective buyers have approached White Street Partners, including one that would maintain the property as workforce housing.

But worried that a new owner would redevelop the 157-unit complex into luxury housing, potentially displacing the current tenants who pay between $1,700 and $2,400 a month in rent, Weekley has asked City Attorney Shawn Smith to look into what incentives the city could grant to Peary Court owners that would encourage them to increase the number of affordable units on the property.

“I’ve got to find properties where it is appropriate to increase the height and density for worker housing. I’m talking beyond Peary Court but Peary Court is included in that,” Weekley said of his new efforts.

Emphasizing that he is not proposing to increase the height of the buildings in Peary Court – or anywhere in the historic district – Weekley said that the current eight units per acre density maximum in Peary Court could be raised to offer a new owner more units to rent or sell, potentially increasing profits. In return, the owner would offer a specific number of affordable units. Tax breaks could be another way to incentivize the owner, Weekley said.

As to why Weekley lobbied for Key West taxpayers to purchase the property for $55 million instead of first proposing “Plan B,” which would cost taxpayers nothing and leave the management of the property to a private developer, Weekley said he didn’t have an answer. Perhaps White Street Partners wanted to negotiate with the city first, he said, adding that the “Plan B” density increase did not come up in discussions before the March 15 vote, where Plan A was defeated by a 44-56 percent margin.

That didn’t sit well with Commissioner Sam Kaufman, who had publically questioned whether the $55 million purchase would truly help alleviate the need for affordable housing in Key West.

“I think that [the density incentive] should have been Plan A,” he said. “I think the only reason it was Plan B is that they hadn’t thought about it. This should have been something from the beginning that private developers should have been involved with, not the city.”

Kaufman said that while increasing the density limits at Peary Court is an interesting idea, the city should be focusing on providing housing with lower rents than those currently charged at Peary Court. Residents at the lower end of the income scale, in the $20,000 to $50,000 range, are the ones who need help the most, he said.

“If you can afford $2,500 a month, you can go on Craig’s List and have options. If you can afford $1,000, you don’t have so many options,” Kaufman said.

Weekley said that increasing the density at Peary Court is only one part of the puzzle. He and city staff are in the process of identifying other city-owned properties where both the density and height limits could be increased, allowing private developers to build more units than currently allowed and thereby lift profit margins enough to entice them to take on lower revenue projects.

Weekley said possible locations where height and density limits could be changed include a parcel inside the Truman Waterfront Park, city-owned property on College Road on Stock Island, and Poinciana Plaza. A vacant lot across from the Key West High School baseball stadium is another option, Weekley said, as is property on Trumbo Road currently owned by the Monroe County School System.

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