St. Pete City Council approves Orange Station, 200 Central projects
On Thursday, the St. Petersburg City Council, meeting as the CRA, has greenlighted two large projects for the city – the mixed-use Orange Station development and The Kolter Group’s 41-story tower.
The CRA review process is one of the steps needed for projects to proceed as it follows the approval of the Development Review Commission.
The Orange Station development is currently under construction at the site of the old St. Pete Police HQ.
The development entails creating five buildings that will include a total of 103 residential units with workforce housing units, up to 106,000 square feet of office space, 21,400 square feet of commercial space and a 600-space parking garage for public and private use.
The first and tallest structure will be a 16-story building on the southwest corner and will include over 50,000 square feet of Class A office space and 61 residential units.
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.
Tim Clemmons with Place Architecture is also involved.
The plans for the project have evolved since its inception. Originally, the group planned for a 100,00-square-foot office building on an adjacent pad of land, but the group pivoted to incorporate a smaller footprint of office space in the development, and still keep the option open to develop the adjacent site.
Currently, in Phase 1, there will be 56,000 square feet of office space over four floors, which breaks down to 13,000 square feet per floor.
“The original proposal was for a minimum of 100,000 square feet of office space [with the development of the adjacent pad]. As it is designed right now, it is 106,000 square feet of office space … in the renegotiations of the development agreement, we did seek some flexibility for Phase 2,” Clemmons said during the meeting.
He said the pad of land by Orange Station will be slated for a “jobs-based development” meaning, the space could be used for a boutique hotel or the previously planned office space.
“The trade back for that [change in office flexibility], is the city asked us to increase the workforce housing using from 30 to 42 units,” he said, which the development group accepted that change.
The Orange Station development is on track to be completed in late 2023.
Kolter’s 41-story tower on Central Avenue
The second project approved is The Kolter Group’s planned41-story residential tower at 200 Central Avenue.
The project, dubbed the Art House, will be a $120 million development with 250 residential units and 6,100 square feet of commercial space.
A rendering of the Kolter’s new 41-story condo tower at 200 Central Avenue. City of St. Pete documents/ SB Architects.
The residential units will be located on floors 10 through 41.
Pedestrian access to the residential lobby will be from 1st Avenue South and 3rd Street. Pedestrian access to the commercial space will be from Central Avenue and 3rd Street South.
There will also be 482 parking spaces.
Based on the $120 million construction estimate, this will equate to a $600,000 contribution to the Housing Capital Improvements Projects (HCIP) trust fund.
The Kolter Group is working with San Francisco-based SB Architects, which designed Kolter’s 41-story ONE St. Petersburg tower, the Saltaire waterfront condo development and the 18-story Ritz-Carlton Residences.
The group closed on the 0.4-acre parking lot site two weeks ago in a $20.45 million deal with Third Lake Capital.
Construction for the Art House is expected to start in the fourth quarter of next year.
Georgia Earp
January 16, 2022at6:30 pm
Out-of-State developers have been building tall towers with many luxury units in St Pete for more than five years. Thankfully, it sounds like Mayor Welch will be addressing affordable housing. He has said that there should be more affordable housing in the Trop site than originally proposed. I think that any residential developments built on former city property should be required to make at least 50% of the units affordable. I agree that most of these tall edifices are ruining St Pete’s vibe, especially when iconic buildings like the Pheil Hotel and Central Bank are torn down to accommodate them.
Marco
January 16, 2022at5:20 pm
The robust real estate tax revenue collected from these new condominiums is enjoyed by everyone in the City for the general welfare. Fifteen years ago you could roller skate in large groups of skaters and cyclists down barren streets with no other activity whatsoever. People slept under overpasses and in parks. Today, Saint Petersburg has turned into a renowned city for the arts, culinary delights, a vibrant walkable core, and is known nationwide for diversity and liberal celebration. All of this thanks to socially liberal policies combined with sensible business friendly practices and procedures. After being a resident of Pinellas County for 45 years, I am enormously proud of the progress and direction Saint Petersburg has taken, particularly in the past five years. Keep up the good work!
Jenny
January 15, 2022at5:55 pm
When is Pinellas County going to address the housing crisis? No affordable housing for lower income folks who are being evicted and displaced. It’s disgusting. This town was supposed to be about diversity and creativity and its becoming just another place where all of that only applies for the rich people.
steve sullivan
January 15, 2022at4:03 pm
Actually they were and organic growth spurred by local business and the art, theater community is what made St. Pete attractive. These big ugly buildings are not adding any value and you see how it has driven up housing prices whether you are renting or buying. What’s good about that? At least build something that is form and function if you are going to build. These buildings are just plain ugly
Barry Koestler
January 15, 2022at3:30 pm
Saint Petersburg is what it is because of development. Twenty years ago Central Avenue and Beach Drive we’re not the greatest places. Development has made the ‘Burg a place where people want to be. Very few cities can boast of the draw that Saint Petersburg has. We need positive people and positive growth. The good old days were not always that good.
Stefi Adler
January 15, 2022at2:08 pm
The architectural style adopted by so many new developments is so boring. A big tower, an attached garage with several floors of additional apts/condos, looking like boots. St Pete deserves better.
John Tindell
January 15, 2022at8:24 am
Bla Bla Bla…more condo’s to sell to Rich Northerners. Humans will always ruin a good thing. St Petersburg is next on the list…😞
j ferguson
January 14, 2022at4:06 pm
I see Kolter still hasn’t realized that Bayfront Tower at 1 Beach Dr is going to block part of their view.
So Sad