Places This Week: Kahwa construction; New 16-story tower

A weekly roundup of local real estate deals.

New 16-story apartment tower to rise downtown

New York-based investment group Commercial Street Partners is planning to build a 16-story apartment building at 747 4th Ave. North in downtown St. Pete.

A rendering showing another perspective of the 16-story building and a pocket park, which the developer is in negotiations with the city to acquire and develop.  

The proposed $36 million tower would be built on vacant land that fronts 4th Avenue North to the south and the Interstate I-375 eastbound ramp to the north. It is a block from the 18-story Reflection tower site in the Mirror Lake neighborhood. 

Earlier this week, the St. Petersburg Development Review Commission approved the FAR (floor area ratio) bonuses under certain conditions. The property is zoned Downtown Center-2 (DC-2). 

The 135 units in the tower would be located on floors five through 15; an amenity center would be on the 16th floor with a rooftop pool.

A rendering of the proposed 16-story tower that would feature murals.

The tower would also have a screened parking garage that would be accessed from 4th Avenue North. 

“We are excited about coming here. We’ve been looking at opportunities in St. Pete and the surrounding area for a while,” Tom George, partner with Commercial Street Partners, said during the DRC meeting. 

The developer is working with Architectonics Inc. as the architect.  

Commercial Street Partners is also developing a student housing project near the University of Tampa. 

Gateway business park sells for $24.5 million

The Park West at Gateway, a three-building business park in Pinellas Park, has sold for $24.5 million. 

Z Asset Management Corp. sold the business park at 3925 Gateway Centre Blvd. to Miami-based Adler Real Estate Partners LLC.

The business park, built in 1999, is fully occupied by tenants including GE Aviation, West Shore Home and Reliant Pharmacy Services.

The buildings have 133,694 square feet in space and recently renovated roofing and tenant spaces, according to a statement from Cushman and Wakefield, which represented the seller. 

Kahwa breaks ground on new coffee shop site

Kahwa took to Twitter to announce this week that it has broken ground on its new site at 4th Street and 66th Avenue N. 

The new Kahwa cafe will have a drive-thru. Rendering provided.

The new shop will be built with shipping containers. It will offer a drive-thru and a covered seating area.

Kahwa management said they hope the site will open by the end of the year, and will post updates. 

Bay Vista Gardens office park sells for $18 million

The Bay Vista Gardens office complex in Clearwater has a new owner. 

Entity Ally Vista LLC has purchased the office complex for $18 million from the Gener Property Group.  

The Bay Vista Gardens office complex. GoogleMaps.

The entity took out a $11.375 million mortgage loan from Valley National Bank. 

The sale includes the buildings at 5500, 5540, 5576, 5665, 5735, 5739, 5741 and 5753 Rio Vista Dr. 

The tenants include Malwarebytes, TeamViewer, e-TeleQuote Insurance, Tops Software and Pennoni, according to recent aerials and business listings. 

Peltz Shoes President buys St. Pete office for investment opportunity 

An entity connected to Peltz Shoes President Gary Peltz has purchased The Fountains, a St. Petersburg office complex on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. 

Fountains on MLK LLC purchased the 10,504-square-foot office building at 1033 N. Dr. MLK Jr. St. in a $2.4 million deal, according to public records. 

Pletz Shoes was founded in St. Petersburg by Bernard Peltz and has been operating since 1957. Today, the company’s HQ is based in Clearwater. 

The purchase was an investment move to improve the vacant building and market it. 

Jon Slater with Lincoln Property Company represented the buyer.   

Blue Skies Apartments planned in Largo

Zev Shaposhnick has filed plans to develop a new apartment complex, Blue Skies Apartments, at 614 Woodrow Ave. NW in Largo. 

A site plan of Blue Skies Apartments. Image: Southwest Florida Water Management District.

The site is currently vacant. The plans show the proposed development consists of 90 apartment units. 

The apartment buildings would range from two to three stories and there would be a one-story clubhouse with a pool. 

The developer is working with Hamilton Engineering. 

Power Design expands 

St. Petersburg-based Power Design, a large contractor and construction leader, has recently unveiled a new 208,000-square-foot distribution and prefabrication facility in Manatee County. 

Power Design’s new facility in Manatee County. Photo provided by Power Design.

The new facility will create more than 80 new jobs. 

The facility called “The Link,” affords Power Design global buying power, mitigates material cost and provides the ability to safely store and ship jobsite materials with complete quality control.

An aerial of Power Design’s Manatee facility. Photo provided.

The center also features assembly areas and meeting rooms, classroom space for trainings, green spaces, natural lighting, lounge areas and access to a full gym on the HQ campus.