As downtown St. Petersburg continues to grow, commercial development is starting take shape in the abutting neighborhoods. The self-proclaimed “#1 ADU Builder,” Cask Construction, set its eyes on the Woodlawn Oaks neighborhood, located within one mile of the much- anticipated Historic Gas Plant redevelopment anchored by Hines Development and the Tampa Bay Rays.
Chad Holman
Chad Holman, co-founder of Cask Construction, attributed the selection of its new headquarters partly to the property being located in his neighborhood (Cask is at at 900 16th St.) and the future redevelopment of 16th Street.
Cask Construction was previously headquartered at 1211 1st Ave. N — a site proposed for a $100 million, 21-story redevelopment project. The new space is a renovated auto body shop outfitted in a modern color scheme and sporting a new mural, courtesy of local artist Marcus Oania.
Last year the City of St. Petersburg expanded areas in which accessory dwelling units (ADUs), defined as “a secondary housing unit on a single-family residential lot,” could be built.
“It doubled the volume of potential work for us as a new builder,” said Holman. As a result, Cask Construction carved out a niche solely as an ADU builder. According to the City of St. Petersburg’s website, the maximum unit size for an ADU is 800 square feet, or 67% of the existing home, whichever is less.
Total construction can take anywhere from four to six months once permitted, although the permitting process itself is timely — something the City is working towards making more streamlined. “Our process, though, is that we want to be involved at the very beginning,” Holman said. “So somebody has an idea that they want to build an ADU but they don’t have any idea how to do it, or if they can even do it … that’s when we want them to call us. And we go through the pre-construction process. And we just charge a portion of the overall construction contract upfront. It’s tiered as we do work, but it allows for a homeowner that doesn’t know anything about construction. We’ll manage the design, we’ll manage the budget and all of the permitting.”
Advocacy is a major proponent in ADU expansion and Cask Construction has sat at the round table with companies like AARP to formulate ideas for increasing affordable senior housing. Cask staff are firm believers that ADUs could play a huge role in creating affordable spaces.
And it’s starting to become noticed at the national and federal level. In October the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) made it easier to obtain financing for homes that have or will include Accessory Dwelling Units.
Cask Construction hopes to expand to Tampa as that city has just revised its zoning laws. There’s also a push in Orlando to expand ADU accessibility.