After pulling out of Riverwalk Place in downtown Tampa, Feldman Equities is pursuing a similar mixed-use tower in downtown St. Pete
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: May 7, 2020

The developer that pulled out of Riverwalk Place in downtown Tampa earlier this year is now pursuing a similar project in downtown St. Petersburg.

Feldman Equities, which specializes in office properties, is partnering with Miami-based Property Markets Group in its bid on the Municipal Services Center property in downtown St. Pete.

PMG triggered a bid process for that real estate — which sits on .8 acres on Central Avenue between Third and Fourth streets — in late 2019, when it sent an unsolicited bid to the city that pitched an ambitious mixed-use tower on the site. That proposal included a 1.5-million-square-foot tower with 100,000 square feet each of office and retail space; 500 residential units, both condos and apartments; 200 hotel rooms; and 1,000 parking spaces.

Feldman was not part of the PMG bid at that point. The PMG project is strikingly similar in nature to Riverwalk Place, a 50-plus story tower on the waterfront in downtown Tampa that was originally proposed with office space, luxury condos and street-level retail that opened up to the Tampa Riverwalk.

In March, Feldman announced that it had parted ways with Two Roads Development, which was handling the condo portion of Riverwalk Place. The original mixed-use plans for the tower were a pioneering vision for Tampa pitched by Feldman Equities CEO Larry Feldman.

The PMG project will include 800 parking spaces in eight stories, stacked over street-level retail and a residential lobby. Seven stories of office space — 150,000 square feet — are on top of the parking garage, creating a pedestal for 16 stories of residential units and amenities.

The proposal would also build a new MSC facility on another city-owned property on the north side of Second Avenue North between Fourth and Fifth streets. The new MSC facility would also be mixed-use, with 120,000 square feet of office space stacked in five stories on top of six stories of parking. The building is topped by eight stories of residential units.

It also includes a "public plaza space open toward Williams Park." A key component of Riverwalk Place was its interaction with the public realm, activating the Tampa Riverwalk and "dramatic improvements" to the adjacent MacDill Park.

Feldman reached out to PMG regarding the project in March, spokesman Mack Feldman told the Tampa Bay Business Journal. PMG principal Kevin Maloney and Feldman CEO Larry Feldman had met previously to discuss an unrelated project that never came to fruition.

At the same time, KW Commercial, which is also involved in the project, had recommended Feldman's office expertise to PMG, Mack Feldman said.

"We were going through all the different bidders to see if there was a way we could finagle ourselves in there," Mack Feldman said, "and PMG made the most sense."

Gensler, the same architect that initially designed Riverwalk Place, is also the architect on the PMG/Feldman project.

The initial proposals for the MSC property were due Jan. 31; in mid-April, developers submitted answers to the city's questions on their proposals, said Alan DeLisle, who oversees downtown development for the city. PMG's answers reveal its partnership with Feldman.

DeLisle told the Business Journal that the city is "several months out" from finalizing a deal for the MSC property. The process is "very complicated and it will take some time to unwind," he said Thursday.

After the bid process opened, several other developers submitted plans for the property as well, including St. Pete-based Blake Investment Partners and a partnership of Third Lake Partners and Echelon, which is also locally based. Coral Gables-based Allen Morris and Dallas-based Lincoln Property Co. — which recently opened a Tampa Bay office in St. Pete — also bid on the site.