Nick Hansen, Partner, HP Capital Group

April 2026 — Invest: spoke with Nick Hansen, partner at HP Capital Group, about the firm’s focus on affordable housing, the impact of interest rates and construction costs, and its approach to serving workforce residents in Pinellas County. “We’re really trying to serve those folks falling into the gap — what the industry calls the missing middle,” Hansen said.

What external changes have impacted HP Capital Group over the past year, and how have those shifts influenced your strategy?

Probably the biggest shift over the last 18 months has been interest rates, along with the stabilization of costs, especially hard costs in construction. The two biggest drivers when trying to get a project off the ground, whether horizontal or vertical, are financing and construction costs.

Coming out of COVID, interest rates were incredibly high, which made deals very challenging to get done. At the same time, supply chain issues were still being worked out, and that pushed costs too high. A lot of deals that would normally have gotten done were not getting done under those conditions.

Now, costs have stabilized more, and interest rates have also stabilized somewhat. It would still help if rates came down a little more, because that would loosen things up further.

Can you share some of the most notable recent developments or initiatives within your firm?

We focus on two lines of construction. One is horizontal site development for production builders in the residential space. We take a piece of land and complete the subterranean build so that it becomes pad-ready for homebuilders.

The second line of work, especially because of high interest rates and our background in construction, has been affordable housing. We are currently constructing a fully affordable project in St. Petersburg as a public-public-private partnership, involving county dollars, city dollars, and a federal HUD loan.

Behind that project, we now have two more that are permit-ready, plus others that are in earlier stages for development or entitlement work. Our shift in focus has been toward vertical construction of affordable housing in Pinellas County, along with lot development for homebuilders across Florida.

A big part of that has also been legislation in Florida that created favorable conditions for affordable housing development. The Live Local framework has been helpful, and both the state and local municipalities have made changes that support development in this space.

How do you view the role of firms like HP Capital Group in supporting Tampa Bay’s economic development and long-term growth?

Pinellas County is the densest county in the state of Florida, and we are surrounded by water. That creates limitations. If you want nurses, teachers, firefighters, and others required to support a community like this, it becomes difficult when they do not have a place they can afford to live.

Some people have to drive an hour or more from outside Pinellas County to come into work. Because of that, we have to find ways to provide more affordable housing. Even reasonably priced apartments within the community, instead of an hour away, can make a difference.

What are some of the primary challenges facing the broader industry, and where do you see opportunities emerging despite those pressures?

Affordable housing can mean different things. One type is a market-rate project with a portion of affordable units. Another is a fully affordable project without heavy subsidy. The third is what they call LIHTC projects, which involve significant subsidies and serve lower AMI levels.

HP Capital has positioned itself between the latter two. We build fully affordable projects that serve what we call the missing middle, generally in the 60 to 100 AMI range in Pinellas County.

We’re really trying to serve those folks falling into the gap — what the industry calls the missing middle. These are people like firefighters, teachers, and other workers who are not at poverty level but still cannot afford market-rate housing.

AMI is calculated by county, and rent levels are tied to that. We are predominantly focused on the 80 to 100 AMI range. We work with nonprofits, use federal financing through HUD, and bring in private capital. That combination has been effective for our projects.

How does HP Capital Group engage with local communities in Tampa Bay?

The affordable project we recently began involved multiple stakeholders, including the city, county, housing authority, housing finance corporation, private partners, and federal financing. It took about five years to put together.

More broadly, our projects aim to include a community component. In a previous project, we built an 18-story condo tower in downtown St. Pete and partnered with a local arts nonprofit. We contributed to their mural program, and a large mural was created on our building.

In another case, we worked with the city to redevelop underutilized land and replaced an existing parking lot by building a garage while preserving access for neighboring properties. In a dense market like Pinellas County, that kind of coordination is important.

We also support local nonprofits and work with vendors who are involved in the community. Our approach combines development with broader community engagement.

What are your key goals and priorities for the next few years?

Within the next five years, and especially in the next two to three, we expect to have about 900 affordable housing units either completed or under construction in Pinellas County. We are also targeting another 1,000 units over the following five years.

That puts our goal at around 2,000 units over seven to 10 years. We also want to reduce project timelines from about five years to closer to 18 to 24 months so we can deliver faster.

The goal is to be able to look back and see that the buildings we developed house thousands of people and remain affordable for their entire lifespan. We plan to stay involved in ownership and management over the long term.

We grew up in this area when it was more affordable and have watched it grow. We want to help maintain an equilibrium so that people are not priced out of the community.