Know
Development team files plans for Exchange Hotel site

New renderings and details have surfaced on plans for an apartment complex that will rise at the site of the Exchange Hotel.
Tampa-based Ally Capital Group has filed a site plan application to redevelop the site of the St. Petersburg hotel at 234 3rd Ave. N. into a 28-story apartment building.
The St. Petersburg Development Review Commission will review the application for the $120 million project during the July 12 board meeting.

The Exchange Hotel in St. Petersburg. GoogleMaps.
In 2022, the Kolter development team and the Ally Capital Group received approval from the city for the demolition of the Exchange Hotel and the neighboring Fit2Run site (at 256 2nd St. N.) where the duo plan to build a 14-story hotel.
At that time, city staff said they did not receive any public comments regarding the planned demolition of the hotel, which was identified as being “potentially eligible” for historic preservation, according to city records.

A rendering showing the southwest aerial view of the planned apartment building.
The newly filed plans call for 327 apartment units, 7,890 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor and a 325-space parking garage, which would wrap around the apartments.
The building would have 21 stories of apartments, ranging from studios to three-bedroom units, above a seven-story base.

Renderings of the building as shown from the northwest viewpoint (top image) and northeast viewpoint.
Indoor and outdoor amenity spaces would be located on the eighth and 28th floors. The amenities include a pool, exercise rooms, and a club lounge.
Pedestrians would access the lobby from 3rd Ave. N. Temporary bicycle parking and bicycle racks would be installed in front of the commercial spaces and residential entry. Long-term bicycle storage would be provided on the parking levels.
The property is zoned DC-1, which permits various residential and commercial uses.
Ally Capital is requesting a 7.0-floor area ratio (FAR) and a building height of 330 feet.

Additional renderings of the building.
Ally Capital is working with local design firm Behar and Peteranecz Architecture.
Kolter acquired the Exchange Hotel and Fit2Run sites in 2021 for a combined $7.5 million.
The DRC previously approved the development team’s plans for Kolter’s planned Hilton-flagged hotel at the Fit2Run property.
Earlier documents showed the hotel would have 192 rooms, a bar and a screened 127-space parking garage.

Drexey Smith
July 6, 2023at9:53 am
How many more buildings do we have to destroy in St. Petersburg that are “identified as being “potentially eligible” for historic preservation, according to city records” before we become Miami or New York City? We are losing the city’s soul.
Paul Flynn
July 6, 2023at7:12 am
The St Petersburg downtown does not have the infrastructure to support this type and scale of development. The greed exhibited for the past 5 years has no bounds and serves only to ruin a pleasant small city.