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Developer unveils proposed tower near USF St. Pete

Mark Parker

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Stadler Development plans to build a 21-story tower in St. Petersburg's Innovation District. Renderings provided.

A local development firm has submitted plans for a 21-story, 213-unit apartment tower in St. Petersburg’s Innovation District.

The .69-acre property at 446 4th St. S. sits directly across from the University of South Florida St. Petersburg’s recreation fields. The campus is roughly a quarter of a mile southwest of the site.

St. Petersburg-based Stadler Development is behind the $67 million project, which requires city approval. Managing partner John Stadler who oversees the firm with his son, Chris, believes the high-rise will provide much-needed housing options away from the downtown core.

“What we love about this site is that it will well-serve the hospitals, the University of South Florida, the Ark Innovation Center and all the maritime startups throughout the Innovation District,” Chris Stadler told the Catalyst.

The site plan calls for 2,250 square feet of street-level commercial space.

According to city documents, the unnamed 245-foot tower will encompass nearly 319,000 square feet. It will also feature 2,250 square feet of street-level commercial space and a 230-space screened parking garage.

The project will provide 228 bicycle parking spaces, 10-foot sidewalks, right-of-way landscaping and trees. While the building’s units would rent for market rates, Stadler believes it could also house students, particularly upper-classmen and those pursuing graduate degrees.

“What a great location,” he added. “It’s close to the water. Close to Central (Avenue). And you can hop on the highway easily right there.”

Stadler referred to I-175, which empties onto 4th Street in front of the project site. The property is currently home to a one-story building.

The 5,000-square-foot structure, constructed in 1920, houses Fresnius Kidney Care American Dialysis Center. John Stadler said he has not heard “anything negative” regarding the 105-year-old building’s potential demolition.

“As a matter of fact, the city has come back out and said they didn’t expect there would be any substantive basis for an objection,” he continued. “It’s not registered (historic), and it’s not on any list to be registered.”

The current building at 446 4th St. S. Image: Google Street View.

However, Stadler said he always expects neighborly issues to arise. He believes one of the townhome residents to the east of the property has submitted an opposition letter. He also reiterated that “there aren’t a lot of red flags” that should affect site plan approval.

The project already has at least one prominent proponent. Alison Barlow, executive director of the Innovation District, said additional housing options would benefit area institutions.

The 560-acre district adjacent to downtown is home to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital, the Poynter Institute, U.S. Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg and the Dali Museum. Barlow believes the lines between residential neighborhoods and strictly commercial areas have blurred.

“What we’re seeing and hearing is that business districts are a great place for multifamily housing, and I don’t disagree,” Barlow said. “Some employees have roles that require them to be within a certain distance of their employer. For example, someone at a hospital may have a report time within 30 minutes when they’re on call.

“So creating spaces that integrate live, work and play is really important.”

The development is within walking distance of several Innovation District anchor institutions.

Stadler’s site plan will go before the St. Petersburg Development Review Commission on March 5. The city council will ultimately decide the project’s fate.

Stadler would acquire the property, currently owned by Marti Realty LLC, for an undisclosed price following site plan approval. The development team includes Baker Barrios Architects, engineering firm George F. Young and Trenam Law.

John Stadler was part of a group that developed the 15-story Camden Central apartment complex downtown and the 21-story Modera St. Petersburg tower along the Pinellas Trail. He and John Barkett led the former Apogee Real Estate Partners firm when it sold land bordering the Warehouse Arts District that will soon become another high-rise development, Gallery Haus.

Stadler enlisted his son to help lead his new venture, and the proposed project is their first as sole developers. They plan to break ground in the second quarter of 2026.

“We’re excited about the future of the city,” Chris Stadler said. “And we are particularly excited about getting first-mover advantage in both the Warehouse Arts District and Innovation District.”

Stadler Development plans to break ground on the project in the summer of 2026.

 

11 Comments

11 Comments

  1. Avatar

    David Beahn

    January 16, 2025at8:46 pm

    Very sad that the city leaders lack any sense of the past and are willing to level such a unique building with a lot of character. If the area needs more apartment highrises just drive south from the proposed site two to three blocks to vacant land. Disgusting

  2. Avatar

    Janis Barksdale

    January 16, 2025at5:45 pm

    I live next door to the site and I am overwhelmed by the amount of construction that is going on around me. There are two sites to be developed at 4th Street and 4th Ave S and another at 4th and 3rd Ave. Please stop! The buildings get higher and higher.. and pedestrian and vehicle traffic will be unbearable.

  3. Avatar

    Tatguy

    January 16, 2025at5:16 pm

    Oh,not to worry too much. This administration seems to green light anything that passes in front of them(as per building anyway), and luckily only a few actually make it to construction!
    PLEASE, Let’s complete the MLK south bridge, before we talk about “reducing pollution”, by making MLK and 8th Street south 2 ways!!! It’s only been 4 plus years to replace this bridge…..had it been on Snell Island, it would have been completed and already resurfaced!
    Yep, this is going to reverse any previous injustice!! LMAO
    When are elections???

  4. Avatar

    John

    January 16, 2025at10:26 am

    I’m a fan of redeveloping this property, as I feel like this corner coming off of 275 needs to be updated. I wish the drawings of the building were a little more interesting, but hard to argue against the location and the need.

  5. Avatar

    Page Obenshain

    January 16, 2025at9:31 am

    Soon the only thing old and historic will be me! I walked by this building in the early 50’s on the way to Roser Park Elementary School. At that time that was a drug store and soda fountain. I have often said that is my favorite building in St. Petersburg and hate to see it demolished. Our first screw up was the Florida Theater and we just keep going!

  6. Avatar

    Wayne

    January 16, 2025at6:44 am

    Always thought that building would make a really cool place for an Italian or Columbian restaurant. So sad to hear another block building will be going up in its place. Living downtown I have such construction fatigue. It used to be exciting to see a new building go up and now it’s just oh no not another one. Also see so few infrastructure projects going on reinforcing all these new structures. The city really is losing all its charm.

  7. Avatar

    Donna Kostreva

    January 15, 2025at7:52 pm

    The building that stands currently on site may not have an historic designation, but it IS historic. Built at a time when the founding fathers of the Burg were toying with the idea that the Bayboro Harbor area would be the center of the city. I’m thinking the Old Southeast neighborhood should secure an historic neighborhood designation before everyone with two nickels in their pocket transforms our area into ticky tacky boxes. How can this be built so close to Albert Whitted airport? This ain’t Manhattan or Miami!!

  8. Avatar

    Elaine Merritt

    January 15, 2025at7:43 pm

    That building is incredible and should be preserved. It’s what keeps St Pete visually interesting. Please don’t strip St Pete of all of the interesting architecture.

  9. Avatar

    Georgia Earp

    January 15, 2025at5:30 pm

    Agree completely! I would like to see the new owner finance and work with Preserve the Burg to relocate the beautiful old building currently on the property.

  10. Avatar

    Rich Lorenzen

    January 15, 2025at5:13 pm

    Has anyone contacted the FAA yet? Seems like a building that height which lines up with final approach to Runway 7 and departures on Runway 25 at Albert Whitted Airport?

  11. Avatar

    Bill Herrmann

    January 15, 2025at4:20 pm

    Let me begin by saying, they have the legal right to this project.

    That said….. USF hosts a “School of Architecture and Community Design”, I am confident that a professor in that department would give this design a C-! The college seeks to replace a wonder, old building that is eligible for designation, with a simplistic glass, lego-block design.

    St. Petersburg deserves better, the building that is being demo’d deserves better and USF St. Petersburg is capable of better designs than this!

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