DevMar to build 20-story tower near Vantage St. Pete

One block away from DevMar Development’s Vantage St. Pete apartment building will be a new hi-rise, from the same developer. 

DevMar, which is behind the 11-story Vantage St. Pete apartment building and The Metro, a 100-unit apartment project underway in the Edge District, has submitted plans to build Sky St. Pete – a 20-story building with 246 apartment units. 

The apartment tower would be built on land that is an assemblage of five parcels. There are residential homes on the parcels that would be demolished. 

“We are driven to create this development because we experience firsthand the overwhelming demand for apartment living downtown, in this very type of product,” Mark DeMaria said. “The St. Pete residential units demanded by so many are attracting a highly educated, entrepreneurial, business-minded, arts appreciative, entertainment and dining-attracted class of residents. These residents will help all the businesses, arts, restaurants and entertainment in St. Pete flourish even more.”

Rick Baker, a former St. Petersburg mayor who joined DevMar in 2019, also said there’s room in the market to grow. 

“Sky St. Pete is really a confirmation of the success of the Edge District – I give credit to Jonathan Daou (president of Eastman Equity) for pioneering the Edge District and DevMar’s efforts on helping the district become what it is today,” Baker said.

DevMar bought land for the Vantage project from Daou’s EE 16th Street Holdings for $2.25 million in 2017. 

“When DevMar was building Vantage St. Pete on 16th Street, a lot of people considered it a big risk because it was so far from downtown and now the district has become a core part of the city,” Baker said. 

A rendering of Sky St. Pete as seen from Vantage St. Pete. 

The market-rate apartments will be broken up into 103 one-bedroom units, 86 studios, 29 two-bedroom units and 28 two-bedroom units, according to the plans submitted on June 6. 

The amenities offered will include a rooftop pool deck with a lounge bar, fire pit and grills on the sixth floor. The 20th floor will have the Sky Lounge and a gaming area, and the first floor will have a coworking center and bike storage. It will also have 241 parking spaces. 

“Rental property fits the vast majority of today’s populations’ housing needs. A multitude of factors plays into this. This holds even more true for downtown residences,” DeMaria said about the market. 

“Condos are in high demand in highly desirable St Pete, for all that it has to offer; however, there is a much smaller pool of eligible or willing buyers than renters. The fact remains that St. Pete, with all of its amazing things to offer, will always be a very highly desirable place to live, so uniquely it will always have a strong demand for both apartments and condominiums,” he said. 

DevMar is working in partnership with Michigan-based Fusco, Shaffer and Pappas as the project’s architect in designing the concrete building.   

The project is scheduled to go before the St. Petersburg Development Review Commission Aug. 3.  

DevMar Development, which plans to seek FAR (floor area ratio) bonuses, will not offer workforce or affordable housing. The company will be contributing to the City’s Housing Capital Improvements Projects (HCIP) trust fund, which goes toward the city’s workforce housing efforts. 

Once construction commences, it’s expected to take 28 months to complete.