St. Pete’s Waldorf Astoria project clears first hurdle

Plans to build a 49-story, Waldorf-Astoria-branded mixed-use condominium tower in downtown St. Petersburg are moving forward.

City council members, acting as the Community Redevelopment Agency, unanimously cleared the $225 million project to progress through a lengthy approval process Thursday. The 540-foot tower at 150 2^nd Ave. S. would become the city’s tallest and first luxury-branded building.

The proposed project is a joint venture between Miami-based Property Markets Group, St. Petersburg’s Feldman Equities, publicly traded City Office REIT and Tower Realty Partners. If approved, the tower will include 164 condominiums, 63,251 square feet of office space, 14,398 square feet of commercial space, 754 parking spaces and three swimming pools.

Councilmember Gina Driscoll credited the development team for informing neighboring residents of their plans. Several of them expressed height, traffic and environmental concerns at the meeting.

Mack Feldman, vice president of Feldman Equities, said the developers would go beyond typical requirements to ensure safety during construction. “We own the immediately contiguous office building, the Northern Trust building,” he noted.

“We’re not going to do anything that’s going to cause our neighbors trouble if we can possibly avoid it.”

The 17th floor will feature an amenity deck with a pool circling the building’s perimeter.

The Waldorf Astoria Residences St. Petersburg would dwarf surrounding buildings. The adjacent Saltaire condominiums rise 408 feet above sea level, and residents shared their dismay over the proposed tower’s scale and proximity.

Like many of her neighbors, Cynthia Smith said a 10-foot distance between the two buildings “is too close, both from an aesthetic perspective and a construction safety perspective.” Others worried that a construction crane could collapse into their condos.

Those fears were stoked when Hurricane Milton blew a massive tower crane at the Residences at 400 Central construction site into a neighboring building. The 46-story 400 Central is now St. Petersburg’s tallest, at 515 feet.

However, 400 Central’s crane was only rated to withstand 110 mph winds. A representative from Juneau Construction said the proposed project’s crane would endure 149 mph winds.

The contractor will also use additional tiebacks to secure the machinery to the building during hurricane season. Driscoll noted the “super crane” could withstand a “strong Category 4” storm.

“Isn’t it a relief that such a crane exists,” she added.

Neighboring residents also expressed concern over the tower’s pools spilling into the street and their building during storms.

Driscoll lauded the development team for voluntarily taking additional storm precautions. She said the project could provide an example of “how you can do things right.”

While she understood project concerns, Driscoll noted council members were simply deciding if it aligned with the city’s Intown Community Redevelopment Area plan. She said officials and the development team will discuss utilities, traffic studies, building setbacks and additional details at a Development Review Commission next week.

The city council, acting in its typical capacity, must ultimately approve the project. The Federal Aviation Administration must also sign off on the proposed height due to its proximity to Albert Whitted Airport.

If approved in its current form, the development, designed by CUBE 3 Studio, will feature a “pedestrian-friendly” two-story base. A parking garage will encompass floors 3 through 13.

Floors 14 through 16 will provide Class A office space overlooking the downtown waterfront. The 17^th story will feature an amenity deck with a pool circling the building’s perimeter.

The 19^th through 49^th floors will house residential units and extend over the pool deck. The tower’s upper floors will feature two rooftop pools.