New housing development may be coming to Tallevast on US 301, a historically Black, unincorporated community in Manatee County, according to The Bradenton Herald. The company listed on the Manatee County Parcel is SRQ 300 LLC, with the limited liability company listed as Peak Development Parking, LLC. Peak Development has been behind the development of the Amazon facility also by US 301, and the creation of a planned business park called the SRQ Logistics Center. Manatee County’s Information Outreach Director Bill Logan told the Bradenton Herald that at least 10 percent of the housing units would be considered affordable housing.
Greystar, which is the company listed on the preliminary site plan, is the largest apartment manager in the United States as of 2023. Greystar has an established presence in Bradenton and Sarasota, with properties scattered throughout, as well as in the wider Tampa Bay area.
Tallevast has a history of being harmed by companies such as Lockheed Martin, which reportedly contaminated the town’s water supply from 1996 to 2003 through its beryllium plant. As a result, Tallevast residents have been skeptical of developments in the area.
On April 20 from 8 a.m. – 6 p.m., the public is invited to “From Contamination to Cleanup and Beyond,” a conference celebrating Tallevast’s efforts to resist and to redevelop on its own terms. The conference will take place at the Selby Auditorium, University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee. Registration for this free, open event is required and can be found here. The conference features a keynote address by Carlton Eley, senior director for federal strategies at Race Forward and a former specialist at the federal Office of Environmental Justice, plus a plenary address by Deanna Wathington, president-elect of the American Public Health Association.
Organizer Professor Christian Wells of the Department of Anthropology at USF Tampa had this to say in an announcement about the conference: “For over 20 years, community residents have had to contend with groundwater contamination, brownfields, and an uncertain future. With recent funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the community is now organizing for change. This conference will share the outcomes of 20 years of research on the contamination, health outcomes, cleanup process, and redevelopment planning.”