New 18-story condo tower to rise in Mirror Lake neighborhood

After eight years of holding onto a piece of property in the Mirror Lake neighborhood, local development group Skyward Living says now is the right time to develop it. 

Skyward Living has submitted plans to the city to develop an 18-story luxury condominium tower called Lake House, which will feature 77 condominiums and an 840-square-foot café, which would be locally operated. 

“Mirror Lake is continuing to evolve and really become a neighborhood. More people are moving here, and they find Mirror Lake is peaceful and centrally located,” Skyward Living co-founder Hudson Harr said. “We are starting to see more development westward of downtown.”

Harr, who is a St. Pete native, said developments such as 400 Central are proving how this type of product is in demand.  

The $90 million tower will be built on a 0.49-acre tract at 200 Mirror Lake Drive. There are currently five one and two-story buildings that will be demolished.

Skyward Living is working with Tim Clemmons of Place Architecture. Together, they previously built the LIV 233 townhome community on 4th Avenue North, and Urbana Townhomes, a townhome community on 7th Street South. 

“We want to have a timeless feeling to be responsive to the surrounding area. We don’t want it to look cold and we will have a lot of classical elements,” Harr said. 

Skyward Living is also working with St. Pete-based Backstreets Capital, which is on the development team for The Nolen, Orange Station and other projects taking shape in the city. 

The building will consist of a five-story, 133-space parking garage with a 13-story residential building above it. The amenity deck will be on the sixth floor, rather than the rooftop, and will offer a swimming pool, a full-service gym and an event/meeting space. 

“Having an amenity deck on a lower level in the building is a strategic move, it becomes more connected for residents and gives us a much larger footprint,” he said. 

Floors seven through 17 will have six units per floor. Those units will range from 980 square foot one-bedroom units to 2,280 square foot three-bedroom units. 

Meanwhile, four penthouses will be available on the 18th floor, ranging from 1,650 to 2,800 square feet.

Harr said there isn’t a finalized pricing structure for the units nor a timeline for the project. 

The Lake House project is scheduled to go before the St. Petersburg Development Review Commission on July 6 for site plan approval and FAR (floor area ratio) bonuses. 

Skyward Living is requesting a 2.5 FAR bonus for providing financial support to the city’s Housing Capital Improvements Projects (HCIP) trust fund, which is dedicated to the city’s workforce housing efforts. They are also requesting another 1.0 FAR bonus for achieving a green certification and a 0.5 FAR bonus for purchasing Transfer of Development Rights (TDRs) from a local historic landmark.

Recently, several properties in and around the Mirror Lake neighborhoods have been scooped up and readied for development.

Reflection is another 18-story residential complex poised for Mirror Lake, which will rise at 8th Street and 3rd Avenue North.

Another project on deck is a 23-story, mixed-use complex on 5th Street N. and 3rd Avenue, across from the Mirror Lake Community Library.