Sankofa on the Deuces, a commercial development in the heart of the South St. Petersburg Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) - <p><span>Corporation to Develop Communities of Tampa, Inc. (CDC of Tampa) will use $800,000 in CED funds to support the development of Sankofa on the Deuces, a mixed format commercial facility, in St. Petersburg, Florida. The new construction will include retail, office, and food service spaces, alongside coworking space, and a dedicated Digital & Creative Tech Incubator with nine offices, available to 56 standing tenants at affordable prices. CED funds will provide a loan to the Sankofa group used to provide build out allowances to three participating businesses, invest in technology for tenants and provide workforce support services. CDC of Tampa will work with CareerSource Pinellas, the regional workforce board, to identify low-income job applicants and refer them to newly created positions. The project will implement two opportunity pathway programs to support earnings gains for people with lower incomes: the Sankofa Career Accelerator will support targeted recruitment and retention of workers for new jobs created, and the Sankofa Business Accelerator will centrally coordinate services to entrepreneurs leasing space at Sankofa. The project will leverage an additional $16,452,162. The project will create 27 new jobs, 20 of which will be filled by individuals with low incomes.</span></p>
