St. Pete gives Orange Station developers the go-ahead for boutique hotel and more office space
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Aug 3, 2023

St. Petersburg has approved a set of major revisions to the long-awaited, mixed-use Orange Station development in the Edge district.

The developers of the mixed-use project — which is planned for the site of the former police headquarters on Central Avenue — decided in May to scrap the condominiums, double the office space and bring in an Autograph Collection boutique hotel. City council on Thursday approved those changes to the development plan.

The project team — called Edge Central Development Partners — is comprised of DDA Development, J Square Developers, Backstreets Capital and Ellison Development, along with Place Architecture. Ellison Development joined the group earlier this year to lead the Autograph Collection hotel’s development and will have a joint venture partnership in the rest of the property.

“We are pleased to get the city’s support for the changes to the Orange Station plan,” Will Conroy of Backstreets Capital said in a release. “The downtown area and the Edge district will be well-served with more quality hotel rooms for visitors and more best-in-class office space for companies looking to locate here.”

The hotel is expected to become a “living room” for the Edge district, according to the team. It will feature a bar and restaurant, event spaces, meeting and conference rooms, fitness facilities, a rooftop pool and a multi-level theater.

The Vinoy Resort & Golf Club is currently the only other hotel in St Petersburg that is part of the Autograph Collection.

The office space on the site has increased from 50,000 square feet to 115,000 square feet.

Wendy Giffin of Cushman & Wakefield, who is heading up office leasing for the project, said the direct vacancy rate in top-tier office space downtown is roughly 3.3%.

“We expect this location to be a major draw for office users, with new, customizable space in a walkable downtown location that has plenty of parking,” Giffin said. “We consistently hear from companies wanting to be in newer space in downtown St. Petersburg, and it just isn’t available.”

The development will also include 42 workforce apartments in a building called The Wye, 14,000 square feet of street-front retail along Central Avenue and First Avenue N, a parking garage with roughly 660 spaces and a public plaza with outdoor spaces and public art.

Demolition on the site is complete, and construction is expected to begin by the fourth quarter of 2023.