21-story tower approved near Mirror Lake in St. Pete
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: May 8, 2023

A 21-story mixed-use tower was approved for the Mirror Lake neighborhood in downtown St. Petersburg.

The Development Review Commission unanimously approved the site plan on May 3. The project is being developed by real estate development and investment firm Gravel Road Partners and is planned for 685 and 699 First Ave. N and 694 Arlington Ave. N.

Plans show the tower will include 200 apartments, 10,843 square feet of commercial space, a 264-space parking garage and 214 bicycle storage spaces. The property lies in the Downtown Center, which allows for a more dense development with a streamlined approval process. An entity linked to Gravel Road Partners purchased the property in March 2022 for $6.4 million, according to a Pinellas County deed.

Two one-story office buildings and a two-story triplex are on the site, which will be demolished to make way for the new project. A 20-foot-wide alley and surface parking are also currently on the property.

The tower's ground floor features a lobby, back-of-house facilities, commercial space, a parking garage entrance and uncovered and covered open space. The parking garage will run from the second to seventh floors and be screened. The eighth floor will include a mix of residential units and amenity space, and the remaining 13 floors will be residential units.

The developer plans to include a 10-foot-wide sidewalk, bicycle parking, landscaping and street trees, open space and a new drainage system at the site. The application also shows they are considering adding a mural or public art at the northeast corner of the building facing Arlington Avenue N.

The building is oriented toward First Avenue N, and the onsite open space will be adjacent to First Avenue N, Seventh Street N and Arlington Avenue N. It will be approximately 175 feet from Mirror Lake Drive.

Gravel Road Partners will contribute $1.27 million to the Housing and Capital Improvement Trust Fund for workforce housing.

The development team includes Hollywood, Florida-based ODP Architects and St. Petersburg-based Booth Design Group. A construction timeline has not been announced.