Newly built St. Pete studio apartments sold, to become short-term rentals
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Feb 2, 2023

DevMar Development has sold The Metro, a newly built 100-unit residential project in St. Petersburg’s Edge district, for $28.2 million.

Mark DeMaria, CEO of St. Pete-based DevMar, confirmed to the Tampa Bay Business Journal that the seven-story building was sold to a private investment firm, which has offices throughout the U.S. and London, Luxembourg. Jad Richa, managing director of Capstone Apartment Partners Florida, was the broker for the transaction. According to Richa, the sale price was $655 per square foot.

“It’s an incredibly high price per square foot based on the size of the units,” Richa said. “This is a perfect illustration of the continued demand for multifamily investment assets across the Gulf Coast of Florida. Notwithstanding the current market dynamics, we were excited to successfully execute what I considered to be a significant premium to the current market.”

A representative for the buyer confirmed that Mint House, a tech-enabled residential hospitality brand, will operate the building, which it calls Mint House at Metro St. Petersburg. This is the third Florida location for the group — it operates two locations in Miami — and the first on the Gulf Coast.

Richa said the “tremendous location within Edge district” and the neighborhood's amenities align perfectly with the buyer’s business plan to bring in Mint House to operate the project.

When DevMar was building Vantage St. Pete, DeMaria said the studio units at the tower were the first to be leased and filled quickly. DevMar recognized the need for housing that had an attainable price point; The Metro broke ground as studio apartments.

“A lot of projects in the area were coming online and not meeting the affordability of the people that want to live car-free, that want to live, work and play right in their backyard,” DeMaria said. “We wanted to provide something that that class of resident could obtain.”

Elizabeth Herzberg, Mint House’s senior vice president of real estate development, said in a release that guests will have the opportunity to have high-end apartment-style stays “whether for a night or several weeks while traveling on business, leisure or a combination of the two.”

“Mint House at Metro St. Petersburg represents the type of quality growth Mint House has experienced in the past couple of years: high-end apartment-style accommodations in thriving and growing markets like St. Petersburg,” Paul Sacco, Mint House’s chief growth and development officer, said in a release. “Mint House will be approaching 2,000 units active or signed in 2023, and this exciting new project is a terrific example of the Mint House offering.”

All 100 units are studio apartments that average 484 square feet. They have a full kitchen, living and dining area and “ample workspace,” according to the release. There is 754 square feet of retail space on the ground floor. Amenities include a resort-style pool, fitness center, bike rental program and offsite valet parking.

DeMaria said they expect the establishment will be move-in ready by May 1.

DevMar closed on the site for The Metro in January 2020 for $3 million. DeMaria has two other projects in St. Petersburg: Vantage St. Pete, which opened in 2020, and Sky St. Pete. Kast Construction was the general contractor for the project.

DeMaria said the Edge district continues to be ripe for development.

With the upcoming Tropicana Field redevelopment — for which Mayor Ken Welch selected a developer on Monday — and several other projects launching in the district, DeMaria said “the future is bright” for developers.

“More residential is needed in that area that will activate more commercial activity on Central Avenue and First Avenue North and [First Avenue] South,” DeMaria said. “It’s just continued development growth that’s desired right now. For us, it’s really more of a factor of the market than a ‘build it and they will come’ mindset. St. Pete is a very desirable city for everything it has to offer. While the demand is there, we’d like to provide projects that meet that need.”