Planned workforce apartment complex on Central gets the go-ahead

DDA Development in Tampa and Backstreets Capital in St. Petersburg received key approval to move forward on plans to build a four-story workforce housing apartment complex on Central Avenue. 

The St. Pete Development Review Commission unanimously greenlighted the project dubbed Sixty90 and the street corner easements needed for it. 

The 204-unit development, which is 90% workforce housing, will be built at the site of the former corporate offices of The Edwards Group, a diversified company with real estate and other interests. The site is near freeFall Theatre, in the West Central District.

A DRC member commented on how the building appears to be very generic and if the height could be increased or if the design could be altered. 

“If we went to seven stories, not only does that become a real towering menace over the street, but it also drives up construction costs. In this case, I think you are all aware this is a workforce housing building … we are building it as sufficiently as possible so that we can keep the rents as low as possible,” Will Conroy, the applicant from Backstreets Capital, said in response to the questions. 

The ground floor would allow for retail use. 

The Sixty90 LLC entity closed on the purchase of the property late last year, paying $5.6 million. 

The project is just minutes from the Pinellas Trail, and on the route for the SunRunner, a bus rapid transit line. 

The next step for the developers is for them to go before the St. Pete City Council on Oct. 21.