Moffitt Cancer Center reveals more details of proposed downtown St. Pete development
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: May 16, 2022

New details have emerged on the Moffitt Cancer Center project planned for downtown St. Petersburg.

Moffitt, in partnership with Atlanta-based TPA Group and United Insurance Holdings Corp., proposed building a 75,000-square-foot cancer center, a 30-story residential tower, a 14-story hotel and a parking garage on 4.59 acres at 800 First Ave. S. Their unsolicited bid to the city sparked an open bid process, but ultimately Moffitt was selected to redevelop the property last fall.

On Friday, the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute team and TPA Group presented during a public meeting for the Community Benefits Agreement Advisory Committee at The Sunshine Center. The committee was approved in 2021 to consider "the social and community impact of major development plans," according to the city’s website. The presentation broke down further details for the site and provided renderings of the proposed development.

The outpatient medical center will be in a three-story building and will include services like clinical trials and research studies, medical oncology, hematology-oncology, radiation therapy, infusion, advanced imaging and screening and diagnostic services. The presentation said some of the equipment at the facility would include multiple linear accelerators, MRIS, CTS and PETS.

The center will have exam rooms, laboratories and consult space. Services like outpatient cancer appointments, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, biopsies, radiation oncology, X-rays, CT and MRI scans, bone density scans, mammograms, radiation, lab/blood work services, infusion pharmacy and clinical research labs will be provided.

Floor plans for the building show the blood draw and clinical lab, reception and radiation oncology will be on the first floor; a waiting room, administration and imaging will be on the second floor; and the third floor will have a waiting room, oncology exam rooms, infusion, infusion pharmacy and cancer research space.

The vision site plan shows the Moffitt center will be at the corner of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street S and First Avenue S. The parking garage will be south of Moffitt. The hotel will be beside the center at the intersection of First Avenue S and Eighth Street S, and the residential tower will be south of the hotel and next to the parking garage.

The CBA program requires developers to provide community benefits for projects that “receive public assistance greater than 20% of the overall construction cost for projects valued at more than $2 million, or $10 million in public assistance,” according to the city. The presentation said the proposed development would do so by having the cancer center, providing employment opportunities, workforce housing and public improvements.