Council OKs $80M residential project near Tropicana Field

An $80 million residential project by the Tropicana Field baseball stadium is moving forward.

On Thursday, the St. Petersburg City Council, meeting as the Community Redevelopment Agency, unanimously approved a project to create two proposed residential towers on 17th Street South, as it would be consistent with the Intown West Redevelopment Plan.

The project, which would be at 201 17th Street South, entails constructing a 20-story and an eight-story building with 383-dwelling units. The property is home to an existing warehouse built in the 1980s used for industrial purposes, which would be demolished to make way for the new development, according to city documents.

The development team for the project includes South Florida-based Mill Creek Residential Trust and developer John Barkett of St. Pete-based Barkett Realty and Stadler Real Estate Corp.

“It wasn’t long ago this would be downtown near the water. It’s clearly a project that has moved west now, it’s what we’ve been wanting for years,” said Don Mastry, an agent for the project and attorney at Trenam Law.

The city has strived to have more development around the Tropicana Field site and continue growth on the westward side of downtown.

The site map, which shows where the proposed project would be located, in close proximity to the Tropicana Field stadium. City of St. Pete documents

“I did take note that these are market-rate apartments. I always thought some development close-up against the interstate would be more affordable,” Councilmember Darden Rice said.

“It gives me a stronger sense of the market forces we are swimming against,” she said regarding the current marketplace.

The 20-story tower will on the north side while the eight-story tower will be on the south side of the 2.86-acre property.

The parking garage, which will have more than 470 spaces, will be along the west side of the project, abutting the interstate, and will have an outdoor pool deck and amenity space on the rooftop, according to city documents.

It will also have 15,316 square feet of commercial space.

The next step is to receive a building permit, which typically can take six months.

A rendering of the north elevation for the residential towers. City of St. Pete documents