$100 million mixed-use development in St. Pete Beach moves forward
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jan 27, 2022

A mixed-use development at the end of Corey Avenue in St. Pete Beach is one step closer to reality following a string of approvals from city commissioners.

In all, the proposal is for Corey Landing to have 243 Class-A residential units, a 5,000-square-foot restaurant space, a public park and 12,000 square feet of retail and commercial space.

"If you look at the way this site is positioned, most of the units have these long views looking south down the Bay," Jim Stine, president of Ram Realty Advisors, told the Tampa Bay Business Journal. "It's just beautiful open water views. Nothing has been built, there's no new product in that marketplace. I think it's been maybe 30 years since there's been any real development there."

Commissioners on Jan. 11 took the first steps toward allocating 150 units from St. Pete Beach’s residential pool reserve — which Commissioner Mark Grill pointed out was 77% of the city’s residential pool — to the Corey Landing project and approved a conditional use application for commercial docks and a restaurant along the waterfront.

The approximately 3.9-acre property is in the city’s Downtown Redevelopment District and is broken into two different areas at the end of Corey Avenue.

South Florida-based Ram Realty Advisors is the developer of Corey Landing. Half of the project will include a 5,000-square-foot waterfront restaurant with parking, a public boardwalk and eight transient boat slips. Of the restaurant space, 3,500 square feet would be reserved for indoor dining, and 1,500 square feet would be for a patio. The restaurant, music and rooftop activity are planned for this section.

The second portion includes plans for a seven-story mixed-use building that is a combination of multifamily residential and commercial. A seven-story parking garage will be paired with the building and will be “wrapped on the perimeter by commercial and residential uses,” according to the conditional use application which would essentially hide the garage from sight. The ground floor will have commercial and retail with 8,264 square feet set aside for retail and 2,959 square feet assigned for commercial and coworking spaces.

Though the company is not yet through the design process, Stine said development costs will likely total more than $100 million.

North Carolina-based Kimley-Horn and Memphis-based Looney Ricks Kiss Architects are also involved in the project. Stine said they are working with Atlanta-based Juneau Construction for the pre-construction pricing and have not settled on a general contractor yet.

One of the unique aspects of the development comes from Ram Realty Advisors’ plan to work with the city to create a public park between the two areas. This will “turn an unsightly portion of Corey Avenue into a vibrant public destination for the community with open space and enhanced access and utilization of the waterfront,” according to the application.

Approximately 0.7 acres of the Corey Landing site are used by the city for storage. The public park would replace the existing asphalt and concrete with more than a half-acre of green space. The proposal also calls for massive upgrades to the streetscape along Corey Avenue, which leads to the waterfront of Boca Ciega Bay. New paving, sidewalks, benches and bike racks would be added. Proposed docks would branch off from the waterfront site.

The plan also calls for the developer to improve the stormwater infrastructure and add a series of new drainage structures to the site.

A transportation analysis from November 2021 prepared by Kimley-Horn shows the roadways that would be “significantly impacted” have sufficient capacity for this development.

Grill questioned if this project was worth the commission committing such a large portion of their residential pool reserve.

“Basically, by doing this we would say this is the spot we want for the largest residential across the community redevelopment district because it’s only leaving us 45 ... but we know we don’t have very large parcels anywhere else in the community redevelopment district,” Grill said in the hearing. “Is it the right investment for us, for the city, into this project, into this area of the city? Because it sets the future.”

Some residents also voiced concerns regarding the density of the site, but Sterns Weaver Miller attorney Elise Batsel reminded commissioners they have approved similar-sized projects before when the location made sense.

“When you are putting a project of this scale together and assembling property and trying to come up with a lot of additional public benefit that all costs money,” Batsel said. “Ultimately there has to be a certain density in order to support all of those extra benefits. Again we started with 325 units and we have sharpened our pencil and sharpened our pencil and sharpened our pencil down to this 243 ... there just has to be a certain economic mass in order to make a catalytic project that your comprehensive plan calls for work in this area.”

Vice Mayor Ward Friszolowski also reminded the rest of the commission that for all the years they’ve had the reserve pool, Corey Landing is the first large project that would significantly tap into the reserve.

Stine said that when complete the units available will be high-quality residences that will pair relatively low density living with elaborate public spaces and commercial. He expects those who want to live in a quiet neighborhood with access to the beach while still being 10 to 15 minutes from downtown St. Petersburg will flock to the development.

"It's going to transform the area and be the nicest thing that's been done in that immediate area in a long time," Stine said.

Ram Realty Advisors has developed hundreds of millions of dollars of residential and commercial properties over the years including The Curv in Fort Lauderdale, Palmetto Park in Boca Raton, The District Boynton in Boynton Beach and Alexander Living in West Palm Beach.

The second hearing on Corey Landing will be held in February.