Kolter files plans for Hilton hotel in St. Pete

The Kolter Group is planning to build a new 14-story hotel at the site that’s home to retailer Fit2Run. 

The plans from KT Runner St. Pete LLC, Kolter’s LLC, show the Tempo by Hilton-flagged hotel would be developed at 232 and 256 2nd St. N., which were sites Kolter purchased in 2021 for a combined $7.5 million. 

The Fit2Run storefront on 2nd Street N. GoogleMaps.

Delray Beach-based The Kolter Group is the same group behind the Art House at 200 Central Ave., and Saltaire at 300 1st St. South, that are currently under construction. 

The Kolter team and the Ally Capital Group had previously submitted plans to the city calling for the demolition of the Fit2Run and Exchange Hotel in St. Petersburg to redevelop the sites into a mixed-use project encompassing a 35-story apartment complex and an adjacent 13-story hotel. However, those plans didn’t come to fruition and the newly submitted site plan application doesn’t include a residential component. 

The filed site plan also reveals there will be a screened 127-space parking garage for the 192-room hotel, which will feature a bar, as shown in renderings.

A rendering showing the north elevation of the proposed Tempo by Hilton-flagged hotel. Image: The Kolter Group/city documents.

The property is zoned DC-1, which permits various residential and commercial uses, with an unlimited FAR (floor area ratio) and no maximum height. The developer is requesting a site plan bonus and proposes a 4.31 FAR and a maximum height of just over 171 feet for the hotel. 

The entire project is estimated to cost $43 million. 

Kolter is working with Orlando-based L2 Studios Inc. as the architect, and the St. Petersburg-based Booth Design Group and the Tampa-based Hamilton Engineering and Surveying firm.

Kolter notes in its application that the project will likely enhance property values in this area. The group said it would preserve a large live oak tree within the right of way of 3rd Ave. N. at the northeast corner, and they are sensitive to the nearby historical landmarks. 

While Kolter has been making plans for the site since its acquisition, this isn’t the first time it’s been eyed for redevelopment. 

Several years ago, Ping Pong Partners, formed by Steve Gianfilippo, who founded the Cordova Inn and Station House in St. Pete, proposed building a 25-story tower at the site. The tower was going to offer 100 residential units and 7,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space; however, the group encountered a setback over an issue with the property, according to reports.

The new hotel development would be one of several popping out of the ground in the city. Miami-based PTM Partners is constructing the 163-key Moxy Hotel by Marriott at 1234-1246 Central Ave. that would anchor The Edge Collective. Meanwhile, St. Petersburg developer Jon Daou, president of Eastman Equity, is proposing to build a 13-story, 114-room hotel and mixed-use development at 1111 Central Ave., on the corner of Central and 11th Street North. 

Additionally, The New Hotel Collection group is in the midst of expanding the Cordova Inn.