Orange Station developers seek $3M in Penny for Pinellas funds

The group behind the $80 million Orange Station development in the Edge District, and the teams behind new manufacturing expansions are all seeking funds collected through the Penny for Pinellas program. 

The Penny for Pinellas program was created to fund new infrastructure projects in critical areas in Pinellas County.

This Tuesday, the Pinellas County Commission will review the funding requests from Edge Central Development Partners LLC, Florida Seating and Dairy-Mix Inc. 

Here’s more on the projects from the applicants and the amount they are seeking:

Orange Station at the Edge

The Orange Station at the Edge is a mixed-use project currently under construction at the site of the old St. Petersburg Police HQ. 

The development team for the project is being led by Edge Central Development Partners, a joint venture group involving St. Petersburg-based J Square, Tampa-based DDA Development and Backstreets Capital. The applicants are requesting $3 million for the project to assist with infrastructure and development costs for Class A office space in downtown St. Petersburg.

The entire development entails constructing multiple buildings in different phases. Phase 1 includes 50,000-square-feet of Class A office space, 61 condominium units and retail. 

In a separate building, there would be a 600-space parking garage, 40,000 square feet of retail and 42 workforce housing units. 

Meanwhile, Phase 2 entails the construction of an office building or a boutique hotel on an adjacent pad of land. 

The $3 million request is based on the total project development costs of $16.3 million or $326 per square foot, meaning the return on unleveraged (total) investment upon completion will be 6.85%. The value of leased and stabilized Class A multitenant office buildings is currently in the 6.75%-7% capitalization rate range, meaning there is no value creation for the developer and equity investors unless they can reduce project costs, according to Edge Central Development Partners’ filed document. 

The group listed the other funding it has received, including $2 million from a workforce housing loan, a demolition grant of $450,000 and TIF (tax increment financing) funds to underwrite 400 of the 600 parking spaces.  

Dairy-Mix expansion in Lealman

Coryn Investment Group Ltd. is requesting $137,500 to help fund the infrastructure costs associated with a 9,285-square-foot manufacturing expansion and loading dock reconfiguration for Dairy Mix Inc. in the Lealman Community Redevelopment Area.

Dairy-Mix at 3020 46th Ave. N., St. Petersburg. Photo: Pinellas County documents

Dairy- Mix is a family-owned ice cream producer that’s been in business for over 70 years. Dairy-Mix supplies local McDonald’s stores with ice cream mix, and is also the supplier to the area’s Dairy Queens, Wendy’s, wholesale distributors and ice cream parlors, according to its website. 

The site has four parcels.

When completed, the $9.325 million expansion would increase the size of the building to 39,935 square feet. 

The amount sought through the Penny for Pinellas funds would be used to go toward costs associated with using a new and required underground stormwater retention system. 

Florida Seating

Florida Seating, a woman-owned business that’s a supplier of commercial furniture, is requesting $606,940 to go toward its planned 18,387-square-foot expansion in Largo. 

An industrial building site at Florida Seating’s property. Photo: Pinellas County documents.

The site is part of a 6.9-acre industrial campus in unincorporated Largo that’s owned by Florida Seating. The buildings at the site date back to the early 1980s and later, and total 72,184 square feet. 

The applicant said the costs required to bring the entire site up to county standards and to underwrite demolition and required sidewalks for the project would make the project unfeasible. 

The group would work on the project with general contractor PJ Callaghan Construction.