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There is a report that when the crime rate lowered, two four plexes in the Melrose-Mercy neighborhood have been renovated. Mayor Bill Foster was given a tour of the once blighted piece of property in South St. Petersburg.

Mayo Bill Foster and Councilor Karl Nurse got a tour Wednesday of a renovated piece of property in the Melrose-Mercy neighborhood in south St. Petersburg.

When they had the tour in the once filled with bullets holes and crime place, they were told stories by the people living there of how it was before it was renovated and seemed a better place to live in now.

That was until Joe Cavaleri, of Direct Express Realty, invested $250,000 to purchase two in a row of eight four-plexes. He has redeveloped the formerly substandard apartments with new HVAC, tile, and updated kitchens with granite countertops and new appliances. The eight 625 sq. ft. apartments will rent for approximately $650 per month, a city news release said.

“It’s incredible,” Foster said after touring the property. “Joe (Cavaleri) and his team have put forward a tremendous investment to revitalize this area.”

“These properties, a longtime neighborhood sore spot, represent a significant investment in a neighborhood that really needs it, at a time when not too much of this type of development is being done,” said Council Member Karl Nurse.

The said action told Foster would let other people to do the same thing with the other areas in their community that needed renovation just like what the said place needed. He said the city could be improved one block at a time.

“We have great neighborhoods, (but) we have little pockets of little tiny cancers that create undesirable activities,” Foster said. “This is meeting a huge need in the city of St. Petersburg. Remove the negative elements and show commitment … it’s going to have that (positive) ripple effect.”

The eight rehabilitated units are at the corner of 18th Ave. S. and Russell St, 1799 Russell St. Construction for the project created 11 local jobs, the city said.

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