Developer of One Tampa condos preps for site work to begin
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: May 13, 2024

One of downtown Tampa’s most closely watched developments will begin preparations for site work this week.

Construction equipment will be mobilized at the corner of East Twiggs and North Tampa streets, the future home of One Tampa, a 42-story, 225-unit condo tower. Developer Kolter Urban will celebrate the tower’s groundbreaking in the coming weeks. One Tampa will rise at 520 N. Tampa St., on a site that was previously home to a First Watch restaurant. (First Watch is in the process of relocating to Park Tower.)

Moss Construction is the general contractor. Condos are priced from $1 million, and Smith and Associates Real Estate is marketing the units for sale. Kolter Urban previously said One Tampa is among the fastest-selling projects in the developer’s history; presales approached $200 million in May 2023.

Kolter paid $11.64 million in late 2021 to assemble the One Tampa site, which consists of 520 N. Tampa St.; the Dohring Building at 514 N. Tampa St.; a small alley next door to the Dohring Building; and the vacant lot at 507 N. Ashley Drive.

In its early stages, One Tampa was a contentious development, with Mayor Jane Castor’s administration squaring off with Kolter Urban over the demolition of the building at 520 N. Tampa St. In a legal petition, an attorney for Kolter Urban accused staff of withholding public records and alleged that the city’s historic preservation department had been “secretly communicating” with the state’s historic preservation office about the building in an attempt to get the property on the National Register of Historic Places.

As part of a settlement agreement with the city, Kolter Urban agreed to recreate the facade of the building that previously stood at 520 N. Tampa St. See the renderings embedded below.