TAMPA, Fla. — With help from the federal government, $4 million will be going to Robles Park to build a new smart community hub that’ll be the center of a neighborhood filled with 1,900 mixed-income housing units.

What You Need To Know

  • $4 million in federal funds will be coming to Robles Park Village to build a new smart community hub

  • This is part of the Tampa Housing Authority’s redevelopment of the 35-acre village where housing has been declining for years

  • It’s going to be the center spot for different services to help with health, people's financial situation and educational opportunities

  • Developers say construction on the 30,000 square foot hub won’t start until probably 2025

The project is part of the Tampa Housing Authority’s redevelopment of the 35-acre village where housing has been declining for years.

It’s going to be the center spot for folks to get access to different services to help with their health, financial situation and educational opportunities.

Opportunities that Michael Randolph says his neighbors have desperately been seeking.

“They want an opportunity to get a job,” he said. “They want an opportunity to live in decent, pretty houses.”

According to Randolph, he grew up in a poor neighborhood. He’s experienced evictions and living in close quarters with strangers. But all that turmoil in life, he says, has led to a moment of elation.

“I’m feeling so blessed today,” Randolph said. “Really, I’m feeling so blessed today.”

Because the community he’s called home for years now is going to look a lot different in a couple of years.

“This is going to look like a totally transformed community,” Randolph said. “It’s going to look like downtown. That’s how pretty it’s going to be.”

He’s celebrating this moment with leaders like U.S. representative Kathy Castor and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor.

“I think everyone will agree it has far outlived its usefulness and we need to ensure that we replace it with a state-of-the-art facility that will be wonderful for our entire community,” Castor said.

Now it won’t be an overnight fix as developers say construction on the 30,000-square-foot hub won’t start until probably 2025.

But to Randolph, it’s a step closer to what he’s envisioned for years, and he can’t wait to see it completed.

“They want an opportunity to come back to a new community, and that’s what they’re coming back to, a brand-new community,” said Randolph.

Developers of the project say this year will be focused on relocating tenants so they can demolish the existing site to build these new apartments.