Kolter opens Saltaire, St. Pete’s newest condo tower

Soaring 408 feet in the air, the long-anticipated Saltaire condominium tower in St. Petersburg has opened its doors. 

The 35-story luxury development has been under construction since 2020 at 300 1st St. S., which was the site of the parking lot of the adjacent Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront Hotel. 

Saltaire’s poolside on the seventh floor.

The $250 million tower, directly across from Al Lang Stadium, faces downtown’s waterfront edge. 

The 192-unit project was developed by Kolter Urban, a division of The Kolter Group. The team is also behind One St. Petersburg, a 253-unit condo tower at 1st Avenue N., and the 42-story Art House residential project underway on the 200 block of Central Avenue. 

View of Al Lang Stadium from Saltaire’s seventh floor. 

SB Architects of Miami designed the project and Kast Construction served as the general contractor. 

“When we bought this site and invested in the construction, pricing was favorable. If you were to buy the same building today, you’d be looking at a considerable increase,” Kolter executive Steve Barber said during a Friday media tour of Saltaire. “We were fortunate in that regard, but still had to deal with the challenges the pandemic brought.”

Despite the supply change disruptions, Kolter and the development team were able to complete the building two months before the anticipated opening date, Barber said. 

Saltaire’s lobby. The project has a modern coastal flare design. 

Nearly two years after construction commenced, all of the units, priced from the low $800,000’s, sold out. The penthouses units were listed at $5 million.

“It’s one of the faster selling Kolter projects,” Barber said. “Right now, the luxury condo market is solid on the sales side.” 

Kolter saw repeat buyers who purchased condo units from the firm’s other development. Many residents also hail from the Midwest and Northeast and claimed their units in all-cash deals – an ongoing trend in St. Pete’s luxury residential market. 

One of the formal community spaces in Saltaire. 

The square footage of the units ranges from 1,663 to 2,712 square feet. The penthouses near 8,000 square feet.  

The owners can lease out the units for a minimum of six months. 

Smith and Associates Real Estate is the exclusive listing agent.

Saltaire and the adjacent Hilton hotel. 

Saltaire has a seventh-floor amenity level, dubbed The Aire Club, which has a state-of-the-art fitness center, event spaces and an Olympic-length swimming pool.

Six retail/restaurant spaces at the site could be occupied by future commercial tenants, Barber said. 

The development also includes a 596-space parking garage. Via an earlier executed agreement, the Hilton Bayfront Hotel maintained it would have ownership rights to a portion of the spaces.