21-story tower proposed near Mirror Lake in downtown St. Pete
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jan 23, 2023

A 21-story mixed-use tower may soon be coming to the Mirror Lake neighborhood in downtown St. Petersburg.

An application filed to the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency by a corporate entity linked to real estate development and investment firm Gravel Road Partners shows the building will include 200 apartments and 10,843 square feet of commercial space. Plans also show a 264-space parking garage and 214 bicycle storage spaces.

The tower is proposed at 685 and 699 First Ave. N and 694 Arlington Ave. N, which is home to two one-story office buildings, a two-story triplex and surface parking. An existing 20-foot-wide alley also goes through the property. According to the application, the developer will demolish the existing buildings for the project.

The CRA will vote Feb. 2 to determine if the tower is consistent with the Intown Redevelopment Plan.

Construction costs are estimated at $63.5 million. On the northeast side of the property, there will be a large outdoor space, which will “help provide additional separation between the proposed building and the existing Unitarian Universalist Church,” according to the application. The plans also show a large covered open space along the south and east sides of the building.

The tower’s ground floor will have a residential lobby, commercial space, back-of-house facilities, uncovered and covered open space and a parking garage entrance. The second through seventh floors will be the parking garage. A mix of amenity space and residential units will be on the eighth floor, and the remaining floors will all be residential units.

The commercial space will be accessible from First Avenue N, Seventh Street N and the covered open space on the east side of the building. The parking garage will be accessed from Seventh Street N.

Site improvements include a 10-foot-wide sidewalk, landscaping and street trees, bicycle parking, as well as the uncovered and covered open space and a new drainage system. A mural or some public art is being considered for the northeast corner of the building facing Arlington Avenue N.

According to the application, the developer will contribute $1.27 million to the Housing and Capital Improvement Trust Fund for workforce housing.