St. Pete power players have a vision for property near Tropicana Field
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Dec 14, 2021

St. Petersburg finance executive Shirl Penney has assembled a roster of the city's most prominent power players to bid on a piece of city-owned property near Tropicana Field.

Penney's Dynasty Financial Partners has submitted a bid for the 2.02-acre site at 910 Second Ave. S. between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street and 10th Street. Bids were opened after Atlas Real Estate Partners sent the city an unsolicited offer to purchase the property. Dynasty's proposal is one of six the city received after Atlas' plans went public.

Dynasty's proposal team includes Ark Investment Management's Cathie Wood, who moved the firm to St. Petersburg from New York City earlier this year. It also includes Third Lake Partners CEO Ken Jones and venture capitalist Steve Case and his company Revolution.

Their pitch for the property includes a new headquarters for Dynasty and Ark Investment Management, both of which have offices in 200 Central, an office tower in downtown St. Petersburg. (Third Lake Partners owns 200 Central.) The plans also include an innovation hub that would allow companies that want to break into the St. Petersburg scene to work alongside significant companies.

"This site has the ability to drive economic development for St. Petersburg," Jones told the Tampa Bay Business Journal, "and if you look at the group that was assembled, you’ve got a very diverse group of partners that have the ability to drive economic growth in St. Petersburg on many levels. It’s not just about building apartments; it’s not just about building office space, and it's not just about building retail. It’s about creating an ecosystem of companies and entrepreneurs who can drive economic growth throughout the city."

Dynasty, Penney told the Business Journal, is on the verge of a growth spurt and already outgrowing its current space in St. Pete. The firm is about to kick off a series of acquisitions, he said.

"We’re just excited to be here and excited to have the opportunity to put forth a proposal here," Penney said. "It’s great to see how much interest there is with all the bids that went in. I think that is a sign of the tremendous economic growth and opportunity that exists in St. Pete and the broader Tampa Bay.”

The initial proposal from Atlas was to build a 10-story, mixed-use building on the property. The company offered the city $5.5 million for the land. The building would have 20,000 square feet of retail on the ground floor, 15,000 square feet of coworking space and 310 residential units — 145 traditional apartments, 43 co-living units and 43 short-term rental units. The building would have a rooftop park, sky lounge, clubhouse, fitness center and a pool.

The new submissions are detailed below:

Dynasty Financial Partners’ proposal

St. Petersburg-based Dynasty Financial Partners is offering the city $6.25 million for the property. Founder Shirl Penney said the building would act as a bookend to the wave of development that has unfolded from the pier.

350 to 400 residential units, including a combination of affordable housing and workforce housing

60,000 to 90,000 square feet of office space, including headquarters for Dynasty and Ark Invest. Penney said they have an opportunity with this office space to anchor a variety of newer, fast-growing national companies with Ark Invest and Dynasty.

15,000 to 20,000 square feet of retail space. Penney said one of the highlights of the proposal is the team’s commitment to bring Iron Chef and Michelin star holder Marc Forgione of New York and James Beard Foundation Award-winning Chef Michelle Bernstein of Miami to restaurants at the development.

Innovation and economic development are the focus of the project, including an innovation and recruiting hub at the site. The hub would have coworking space for startup companies, provide access and introductions to leading investors in the target industries, host community events to bring together local leaders, and highlight organizations focused on innovation and economic development.

Allen Morris

Florida-based Allen Morris — which built The Hermitage, a 348-unit apartment building in St. Pete — is offering the city $5.5 million for the site and intends to build a five-story mixed-use project. The building would feature ground-floor retail, office space, public parking and multifamily units.

The company’s proposal shows it breaking ground by the third quarter of 2023 and has an estimated completion date of in the third quarter 2025.

There would be 400 Class A apartments with an average of 800 square feet. Of those, 15% would be for affordable housing.

100,000 square feet of Class A office space

20,000 square feet of ground-floor retail

A parking garage with 1,126 spaces would be on site, 226 for public use

Apogee Real Estate Partners LLC’s proposal

St. Petersburg-based Apogee Real Estate Partners LLC is offering the city $5 million to purchase the location. The proposal shows that Apogee — led by real estate veterans John Stadler, John Barkett and Gordon Crozier — has partnered with South Florida-based architects Nichols Brosch Wurst Wolfe & Associates and Cushman & Wakefield and is collectively the Development Group. The goal is to build a mixed-use development that features retail as well as residential and office.

216,000 square foot Class A office tower

25-story Class A residential tower over a podium parking garage. The building will have approximately 360 units, 10% of which would be set aside for workforce housing.

More than 1,000 parking spaces would be in the garage, and approximately half of them will be available to the public for use.

Blake Investment Partners’ proposal

St. Petersburg-based Blake Investment Partners and Eastman Equities are offering the city $15 million to purchase the property near Tropicana Field. The goal is to build a mixed-use facility with multifamily, retail and office space.

The proposal shows that Eastman and Blake intend to reach out to medical research tenants in conjunction with Moffitt Cancer Center, which was recently selected to develop an outpatient facility not far from the site.

Of the residential units, 10% would be dedicated to workforce housing

A public parking garage would be built into the structure

The proposal shows that Eastman and Blake believe UPC would be an ideal tenant or office condo buyer

Mill Creek Residential

Boca Raton-based Mill Creek Residential is offering the city $10 million for the property to build a mixed-use project called Modera NineTen. The development would include a multifamily high rise with 385 units with ground-floor retail.

If selected, this would be the third residential development done by Mill Creek in downtown St. Petersburg. The company developed Modera Prime 235 and recently bought nearly 3 acres west of Tropicana Field to build Modera St. Petersburg, a 383-unit high-rise multifamily development.

385 apartments, 15% of which would be set aside for workforce housing

226 parking spaces for public use within the parking deck

Trammell Crow Residential

Dallas-based Trammell Crow Residential is offering $13.5 million to purchase the city-owned property to build a seven-story building with 300 apartments.

Of the 300 units, 240 would be market-rate apartments, 45 would be workforce housing apartments, and 15 would be live-work townhomes. The live-work townhomes are at the ground level. The property will also include amenities like a resort-style pool, fitness center, electric car charging stations, pet spa and hammock garden, and the building will have a rooftop amenity deck.