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St. Pete’s Waldorf Astoria project clears first hurdle

Mark Parker

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If approved, a Waldorf Astoria-branded tower in St. Petersburg would become the city's tallest building. Renderings: CUBE 3 Studio.

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 2nd 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 17th story will feature an amenity deck with a pool circling the building’s perimeter.

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

 

 

 

6 Comments

6 Comments

  1. Avatar

    Donna Kostreva

    November 9, 2024at11:35 pm

    The Old Southeast has many sink holes forming after the hurricanes. Their placement looks like century old sewer pipe routes. Lassing Park is a biohazard again for the first time in decades of effort to clean it up. Stop the rampant development until our substructure is brought to 21st century standards. Thank you.

  2. Avatar

    Page Obenshain

    November 4, 2024at11:02 am

    Just consider the raw sewage (millions of gallons)which has been released into our bay waters recently and the city will not even talk to this publication about it! Today our bay waters remain a very different color. How can any more permits be issued with the problems we are currently experiencing such as sewage, water, and traffic which are hurting the quality of life of our citizens.

  3. Avatar

    Steve D

    November 3, 2024at10:13 am

    The developers were seeking approval for their proposed project, not to win an art contest.

  4. Avatar

    Richard Lawrence

    November 2, 2024at3:36 pm

    Has this council ever rejected a high rise proposal; one passes seemingly every week. Our infrastructure can’t handle what we have presently and this proposal is a monstrosity . STOP! Let’s catch up to what we already have.

  5. Avatar

    Daniel Zumbro

    November 2, 2024at3:16 pm

    Do you honestly think for a second that developers care?

    I also believe neither do city council or city commissioners.

  6. Avatar

    Hugh Hazeltine

    November 1, 2024at4:33 pm

    I attended the Downtown Neighborhood Association meeting where the Feldmans pitched this idea. They did not have an artist rendering at that time but promised a “Nautical Theme” to the building.

    I try not to be overly sensitive to such things but the first rendering does not show Albert Whitted Airport in it’s current form. No Control Tower, no runways, no Albert Whitted Park. They will need FAA approval for such a tall structure so I assume they know it is there.

    The Marina is pictured devoid of boats. I think it is fair to say that peering from these tall buildings much of the appeal is watching airplanes and boats come and go.

    It makes me wonder do these developers understand what has made St. Petersburg the place that it is?

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