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Emily L. Mahoney - Real Estate Reporter
Emily L. Mahoney

Real Estate Reporter

I cover real estate, which means I get to report on what is most people's biggest purchase in their lives: their home. I'm interested in the twists and turns of the real estate market, but also how our living situations — good and bad — play a massive role in our lives. I want to tell the stories of those who don't have a comfortable place to call home, of renters getting scammed, how our warming earth is changing the way we build. I previously covered politics in the Tallahassee bureau, which means I have some war stories to tell. Want to hear them? Talk story ideas? Send me an email.

  1. DeSantis’ changes to moratorium mean fewer families protected from eviction, foreclosure
    Aug. 5• Business
    A house for rent in St. Petersburg. Gov. Ron DeSantis recently extended a moratorium on evictions through the end of September but revised the order to only halt the “final action” in court — a term that has no legal definition, but which housing lawyers have interpreted as meaning that new cases will be allowed to proceed up until the final judgement. [SUSAN TAYLOR MARTIN | Susan Taylor Martin]
  2. Decline in traffic tickets may result in eviction backlog in cash-strapped Pinellas courts
    Aug. 1• Pinellas
    A Florida Highway Patrol officer is seen driving south along US 19 Thursday, April 9, 2020 in Largo. As Floridians remain at home to slow the spread of the coronavirus traffic stops across the state plummeted 92 percent in March 2020 compared to March 2019. [CHRIS URSO | Times]
  3. Florida’s eviction moratorium was extended again. Is there a longer-term solution?
    Jul. 30• Business
    Jacinta Evans, 47, stands in front of her apartment in Clearwater after finishing a work shift on Wednesday, July 29, 2020. After losing work due to the pandemic, Jacinta has recently gotten a new job and is trying to pay back the debt she accrued. After missing two months of rent, her landlord filed to evict her from her apartment. She said she just needs a little more time to make the funds she needs. Florida's eviction moratorium is scheduled to expire at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday morning. [DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Tampa Bay Times]
  5. Gov. Ron DeSantis extends Florida eviction and foreclosure moratorium until Sept. 1
    Jul. 30• Business
    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and First Lady Casey DeSantis hold a roundtable discussion regarding mental health and COVID-19 at the Tampa Bay Crisis Center on Thursday, July 16, 2020 in Tampa. (Martha Asencio-Rhine/Tampa Bay Times via AP) [MARTHA ASENCIO RHINE | AP]
  6. At least 160 Floridians have received mysterious seeds from China in the mail
    Jul. 27• Business
    St. Petersburg lawyer Matt Weidner received several unsolicited seed packets in the mail. Now the Florida Department of Agriculture is urging residents not to plant the mysterious packages. [Courtesy of Matt Weidner]
  7. Tampa Bay’s June home sales get strong rebound from pandemic slump
    Jul. 24• Real Estate
    [Associated Press]
  8. Coronavirus relief is about to expire for evictions, unemployment and more
    Jul. 20• Health
    Since being laid off from his graphic design job at the start of the coronavirus shutdown, Jayson Kaplan, 49, of Tampa, has lived off his stimulus check, his savings, and two weekly unemployment checks, $600 a week from the federal government and $214 a week from the state. The federal check is scheduled to end in late July, right around the time a statewide moratorium on evictions is slated to end on Aug. 1. [SCOTT KEELER | Times]
  9. ‘Iconic,' ‘uniquely St. Pete:' What five local architects think of the new Pier
    Jul. 20• Business
    The new St. Petersburg Pier and its $92 million dollar Pier District opened on July 6 to the public. [BOYZELL HOSEY | Times]
  10. Project to replace former St. Petersburg Police station delayed by pandemic
    Jul. 14• Real Estate
    A rendering showing what the development atop the old police headquarters in St. Petersburg's Edge District could look like. The city picked a proposal on Tuesday from developer Edge Central Development Partners. [Rendering courtesy of the city of St. Petersburg] [Courtesy City of St. Petersburg]
  11. Minority, low-income Floridians hit hard financially by coronavirus, housing data show
    Jul. 9• Business
    New survey data from the Census Bureau shows racial trends when it comes to who is most concerned about paying rent. [Emily L. Mahoney | Times]
  12. See the new look of Tampa’s planned Riverwalk Place after major redesign
    Jul. 7• Real Estate
    The new rendering for Riverwalk Place shows a shorter, squatter design. [Courtesy of Two Roads Development]
  13. Vinny Testaverde’s Odessa mansion finally sells for $2.8 million
    Jul. 6• Real Estate
    The lakefront Odessa estate of former NFL quarterback Vinny Testaverde sold on June 24 for $2.8 million. [Courtesy of Engel & Volkers]
  14. This luxury developer wants to build affordable housing in Tampa Bay
    Jul. 2• Real Estate
    One of Property Markets Group's more recently finished Florida properties, an apartment building called Society Las Olas in Fort Lauderdale. [Courtesy of Property Markets Group]
  15. DeSantis extends freeze on evictions and foreclosures until August 1
    Jul. 1• Business
    CHARLIE KAIJO | Times An eviction sign is posted on a door at the Mosley Motel in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016. [Times (2016)]
  16. DeSantis’ eviction moratorium is set to expire Wednesday. What happens then?
    Jun. 30• Business
    Florida Governor Ron DeSantis puts his mask back on after speaking during a news conference at Cristo Rey Tampa Salesian High School in Tampa on Thursday, June 25, 2020. [IVY CEBALLO | Times]
  17. Florida has thousands more properties with high flood risk than FEMA says, according to new study
    Jun. 29• Environment
    Justin Lyons, 29, kayaks back to his Valrico home for more belongings, in flood waters from the Alafia River, after Hurricane Irma in September 2017. [Times (2017)]
  18. Florida announces $240 million in mortgage and rent relief
    Jun. 25• The Buzz
    Florida will give out $240 million in federal CARES Act money to help families hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic pay rent and mortgages.
  19. Florida’s economy under coronavirus: Pandemic devastated peak season
    Jun. 25• Business
    The COVID-19 pandemic’s first two months sent Florida’s major economic indicators into free-fall along during what should have been the state’s major tourism season. Pictured are visitors at Pass-A-Grille Beach May 4 as beaches in Pinellas County reopened. [Scott Keeler | Times] [SCOTT KEELER | Times]
  20. Tampa Bay’s May home sales saw steepest declines of pandemic so far
    Jun. 22• Real Estate
    A for sale sign is seen in front of a home along 6th Avenue North in the Kenwood area Friday, Feb. 21, 2020 of St. Petersburg. [CHRIS URSO | Times]
  21. Tampa Bay celebrated Juneteenth. Protests lasted late into the night.
    Jun. 19• News
    Local artists collaborate on painting a Black Lives Matter street mural in front of the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum, 2240 9th Ave. South in St. Petersburg on Thursday, June 18, 2020. Woodson Museum executive director, Terri Lipsey-Scott contacted St. Petersburg City Council member, Lisa Wheeler-Bowman with the idea who in turn contacted Wayne Atherholt with the city's Cultural Affairs department who also liked the idea. Atherholt contact John Collins with the St Pete Artist Alliance which runs the Shine Mural project and got his team working to find artists willing to participate. 16 artists are responsible for painting 1 letter each of the phrase. The mural will be ready when the city of St Pete kicks of its Juneteenth celebrations on Friday morning. [DIRK SHADD | Times]
  22. With eviction freeze extension, Florida landlords wonder how they’ll recover lost rent
    Jun. 17• Business
    Robert Johnson, 77, and his wife Christie Brand-Edwards, 72, pictured on the front porch of their Madeira Beach home. Christie and Robert are seniors who rent out a second home in Tampa to supplement their fixed income. After not receiving rent payments in February, they started the process to evict their tenants. It almost went all the way through when the very last step was caught in DeSantis' eviction moratorium, spurred by the pandemic. [DIRK SHADD | Times]
  23. Crowds dwindle on Monday, but protesters still march
    Jun. 16• News
    Demonstrators march through Historic Roser Park during one of two daily marches in protest of police brutality and racism in the wake of George Floyd's death, on Monday, June 15, 2020 in St. Petersburg. [MARTHA ASENCIO RHINE | Times]
  24. Protests continue Friday ahead of an expected busy weekend
    Jun. 12• News
    Protesters march along Central Avenue in downtown St. Petersburg on Friday, June 12, 2020. [Martha Asencio-Rhine]