Yacht Club Estates consists entirely of single family dwellings. It is a water oriented community with about 99 percent of the homes being waterfront homes (on Boca Ciega Bay). Almost all homes have docks and most have boats (either power or sail). Swimming, fishing and boating are favorite hobbies of residents. In recent years, the trend has been toward young families moving into the community. Many of the new young homeowners are "returnees" as they lived in Yacht Club Estates when they were growing up.
The original homes in Yacht Club Estates were built from 1959 through the late 1970s. They were almost exclusively concrete-block, ranch style homes with three or four bedrooms, two or three baths and double car garages. Many of these original homes have now been remodeled and enlarged with many two story homes now in evidence. There are now also many three car garages, spas and swimming pools.
In the mid 1950s, Robert E. Lee, a land developer from South Carolina, predicted that thousands of newcomers would flock to Florida and want waterfront homes. But the supply of waterfront property was already dwindling. Facing few restrictions, Lee launched a vast dredging operation to place fill on existing sand bars within newly constructed retaining seawalls to create the waterfront property which became Yacht Club Estates. This would be one of the last areas to be scooped out of the sea. After years of petitions from area environmentalists, dredging and seawall construction was halted in 1972, by the Pinellas County Aquatic Preserve Act. Development of the land started in 1958, with the first houses built soon afterward by a premier builder of the area - Frank Stumm. Other premier builders (Jack Apple and Clarence Sibley) were also invited to build homes. The price of a lot in 1960 was $4,900 and homes were sold for $22,000 including the lot. Some of the original homeowners still reside in Yacht Club Estates.
The Yacht Club Estates Civic Association of St. Petersburg was incorporated in November 1977, and has been in continuous operation since that time. At the present time, there are committees which address Beautification, Welcoming (of new residents), Crime Watch, Newsletter and Traffic. There is one Civic Association general membership meeting each year (usually held in late January), monthly Board of Directors meetings, a yearly neighborhood Harvest Moon party (usually held in October), a Halloween parade for goblins of all ages, as well as special meetings, work parties or a special get together as needed.
In 1996, Yacht Club Estates received a Neighborhood Partnership Grant from the City of St. Petersburg to replace the neighborhood sign and to install two sets of benches mounted on paver pads in the median of 79th Street South. This project was completed in 1997.
Yacht Club Estates is an island community located along 79th Street South, beginning with the 800 block. It is bounded on all sides by Boca Ciega Bay.
