Developer closes on land to build 15-story tower

The development group behind the planned $65.4 million Tuxedo Court project has closed on the property where the 15-story tower will be built. 

Indiana-based real estate investment management group White Peterman Properties Inc. purchased the 1.15-acre property at 720 Charles Court South in an $8.75 million deal June 3, under the WPPI St. Pete TC LLC entity, from Tuxedo Court LLC, an entity controlled by John W. Owen. The buyer also took out a $6.467 million loan from Centier Bank, according to public records. 

The site is bordered by Tropicana Field to the west and downtown St. Pete to the east. The proposed building will have an 11-story, u-shaped tower sitting on top of a parking garage with 260 apartment units and 2,700 square feet of ground-floor retail and restaurant space. 

A southeast rendering of Tuxedo Court.  

Earlier this year, the St. Petersburg City Council, meeting as the St. Petersburg Community Redevelopment Agency, approved the plans for Tuxedo Court.  

“We worked very hard to create a project that was cognizant of the neighborhood and works well with the surrounding community – placing townhome-like units on 4th Avenue to reflect the residential across the street and our retail on 8th Street to reflect the commercial across the street,” Anne Pollack with St. Petersburg-based law firm Fletcher Fischer Pollack P.L., who represents White/Peterman Properties, and developer Tim Connelly of White/Peterman Properties, previously said at the CRA meeting. 

A rendering of the northeast view of the tower.  

The u-shape was purposely designed to meet code and border 4th Avenue, so the smaller units would face the neighbors across the street, she explained, adding how the development would have four times the amount of required landscaping and provide wide sidewalks. 

The developers will also contribute to the city’s Housing Capital Improvements Projects (HCIP) trust fund to aid in the city’s workforce housing efforts. 

The breakdown of the floors, according to the filed plans:

• The first floor will be for vehicular access and bicycle parking.
• The second floor, which is the ground floor, will have a residential lobby, commercial space and five apartment units. The units on the ground floor will have a private courtyard with direct access to 4^th Avenue South. Each apartment will either have a balcony or a patio. 
• The third and fourth floors will have apartments and parking.
• The fifth floor will have 20 apartment units, a fitness center and an outdoor pool.
• The sixth level will have 20 apartment units, an outdoor dog walking area and a roof deck.
• The seventh through the 14^th floors will have 20 apartment units.
• The 15^th floor will have 19 apartment units and a club room.

The apartments will have one- and two-bedroom units and lofts in various layouts. The smallest one-bedroom unit starts around 515-563 square feet, while the larger one-bedroom options will be between 647-997 square feet. There will be large two-bedroom lofts that will total 1,472 square feet.

The group is working with Kansas-based LK Architecture and Engineering on the design. There are currently 10 residences on the property that White Peterman Properties will demolish. 

An exact timeline of the project has not been made available.