Billionaire developer behind St. Pete's 400 Central condos expects interest from Northerners 'tired of cold and criminals'
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Oct 18, 2021

The groundbreaking for The Residences at 400 Central, a 46-story condominium tower in downtown St. Petersburg, signaled the official start of development on the property.

Billionaire developer John Catsimatidis Sr., founder of New York-based Red Apple Real Estate, told the Tampa Bay Business Journal he anticipates heavy interest from Northeastern residents wanting to relocate.

Catsimatidis is also the owner and president of Gristedes Foods, a Manhattan grocery chain.

“I think there’s plenty of runway,” Catsimatidis told the Tampa Bay Business Journal of Florida’s economy. “Northerners are tired of Covid, tired of the cold, they’re tired of criminals and they’re moving on down. I think a lot of Northeasterners are going to be coming to Florida. Right now, you look at it, and there are 20 million New Yorkers in New York state and 20 million in Florida. I think it’s going to be minus one, plus one.”

The tower, which will be built on the site of the former “cheese grater” building, will be 46 stories, 515 feet tall and include 301 luxury condominium homes and total 1.3 million square feet. It is anticipated to become the tallest residential building along Florida’s west coast and will have 45,000 square feet of top-tier office space as well as ground-floor retail and restaurants.

The condos, priced from $800,000, will range from one- to four-bedroom floor plans, and there will also be a selection of custom penthouse homes. Catsimatidis told the Business Journal he intends to purchase one of the penthouses for his own family as it is essential for them to remain active in the community.

Residents of 400 Central will have access to more than 35,000 square feet of private indoor and outdoor amenities, including a pool, putting green, outdoor kitchen, spa, bocce court and a dog-walking area. At the top of the building will be the Sky Lounge Observatory. From the 46th floor, residents will have panoramic views from Tampa Bay to the Gulf of Mexico.

“We love the office space component of this project,” Mayor Rick Kriseman told the Business Journal. “That was really important to the city. We wanted to see retail on the ground floor, office space, and John basically was like, ‘Mayor, tell me what you want here, and let’s see what we can do to make it happen.’ I certainly appreciate John and his entire team. I think this project adds to what has already been happening downtown. And architecturally, it is so different from anything else we have here.”

Red Apple Group has appointed Sarasota-based Michael Saunders & Co. as the exclusive sales and marketing agent for the project. The sales gallery for The Residences at 400 Central is officially open across from the property at 465 Central Ave.