15-story tower proposed near Tropicana Field in downtown St. Petersburg
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Oct 28, 2021

A 15-story apartment tower with street-level retail is in the works near Tropicana Field in downtown St. Petersburg.

Tuxedo Court LLC — a company linked to Englewood-based White/Peterman Properties Inc. — has filed plans with the city for the tower, which will have 260 residential units and 2,700 square feet of ground-floor retail and restaurant space. Project costs are pegged at $65.4 million.

White/Peterman is targeting a 1.5-acre site at the northeast corner of Eighth Street South and Fourth Avenue South, home to 10 one- and two-story buildings that will be demolished to make way for the tower.

With a maximum height of 200 feet, the tower requires approval from the city’s Development Review Commission, which will vote on the plans on Nov. 3.

The site plan shows an 11-story, U-shaped tower sitting on top of a five-story base that will act as a parking garage for the structure. The garage will have access via Charles Court South and Grey Eagle Court South. Pedestrians will have access to the residential portion of the development from Eighth Street South and Fourth Avenue South, and access to the commercial space will be from Eighth Street South.

Kansas-based LK Architecture and Engineering is the architect and will create a contemporary style exterior that will “blend in with its surroundings.” The parking garage will be screened with perforated decorative aluminum panels. Balconies will have metal and glass railings, and the roof will have “a distinctive crown element that will be up-lit.”

The first floor of the building is below grade and will have parking for cars and bicycles. The ground floor, technically the second floor, will have the residential lobby, commercial space, five residential units, back of house facilities, a loading area and ingress/egress into the parking garage. The residences on this floor will have a private courtyard with direct access to Fourth Avenue South.

The next two floors will have parking and eight residential units. The fifth floor will have 20 residential units, fitness and club rooms and an outdoor pool and amenity deck. On the sixth floor, there will be 20 residential units, an outdoor dog walk area and a roof deck.

Floors seven to 14 will have 20 residential units, and the 15th floor will have 19 residential units as well as a club room.

The apartments will include one- and two-bedroom floor plans ranging from 515 to 1,472 square feet.

There will be 475 bicycle spaces, including 17 short-term bicycle parking spots on the exterior of the building.

Documents show the project’s team has contacted the St. Petersburg Downtown Neighborhood Association to share the plans. The project team did not receive any negative criticisms from the audience. The applicant also reached out to the associations of the Casablanca Towers and Orion condominiums.

At the time the plans were submitted, no response had been received, but the applicant said it would continue to reach out to get feedback before the public hearing.