PTM Partners ready to ‘embrace’ Live Local Act in St. Pete
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Aug 11, 2023

A South Florida developer behind the upcoming mixed-use Edge Collective development in St. Petersburg’s Edge district intends to “spearhead a movement” to reshape how developers approach affordable housing.

Michael Tillman, CEO of Miami-based PTM Partners, said when PTM was formed, the team intended to create a firm that focused on building superior projects “for the masses” without sacrificing quality or amenities.

The Live Local Act, which went into effect July 1, is the next part of that vision. St. Pete is currently creating a pathway for developers to utilize the law, which removes many local zoning, density and building height restrictions and streamlines the development process.

“Live Local for us is just another extension to our core thesis,” Tillman said. “It furthers the question of ‘How do we continue to develop products for the masses?’ Affordability has only gotten harder for Florida and nationally as well. So, we’re really excited about the prospect. Our formula doesn’t change whether it’s Live Local, opportunity zones or traditional developments.”

Tillman said Live Local will “drastically increase” the opportunity for developers to find properties that are underutilized and make projects pencil out that otherwise wouldn’t work with the current state of the market.

“I think everyone is on board with wanting to see more affordable housing built, especially quality products that will add to the character of the community,” Tillman said. “There’s many opportunities not just downtown but for greater St. Petersburg. What I find exciting is you can find larger tracts of land, and instead of going vertical we can go horizontal. It’s faster, and you can build it at a price point that is lower than going vertical.”

PTM has long focused on qualified opportunity zones, which Tillman said are a perfect example of a partnership between the city, local stakeholders and developers. In the Edge district, Tillman said they have worked hard to listen to the input from the community and the city, and he hopes a similar partnership is considered as the city wraps its hands around the Live Local Act.

He said many developers, including PTM, will now look at development opportunities through two lenses: is this site a good fit for traditional development or a suitable candidate for Live Local? The answer will likely depend on how the city moves forward with the new law.

“How do you enact the legislation locally but still preserve the character and the nature of some of these neighborhoods and submarkets that have not historically been high density?” Tillman asked. “We’re not looking to do that; we won’t be the guys that go into single-family neighborhoods and try to build a 36-story tower. But that’s an issue the city is going to have to answer.”

The team has collectively invested, developed and managed more than $12 billion in real estate in Florida, New Jersey, New York and Washington, D.C. PTM Partners’ portfolio includes the Edge Collection — anchored by the Moxy Hotel — on Central Avenue in St. Petersburg, the Watermark — a 452 unit multifamily adaptive reuse project — in Washington, D.C. and the 318-unit multifamily project Viridium in Virginia.