Downtown St. Petersburg’s skyline is set for another dramatic shift as dual 44-story condominium towers will replace an aging hotel along the waterfront.
Kolter Urban will demolish the existing Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront Hotel, which opened in 1972 at 333 1st St. S., according to a site plan submitted to the city Monday afternoon. The two buildings will bring 325 luxury condominiums to a downtown now defined by upscale mixed-use developments.
The estimated $300 million project also includes nearly 18,000 square feet of street-level commercial space. At 509 feet, the towers would become the city’s third-tallest behind the Residences at 400 Central (515 feet) and the planned Waldorf Astoria Residences St. Petersburg (539 feet).
The Waldorf, which will soon break ground at 150 2nd Ave. S., is St. Petersburg’s first branded development. Kolter’s proposed project, less than a quarter-mile away, could become the second.
Delray Beach-based Kolter’s application did not list a project name. However, the developer is currently building the Ritz-Carlton Residences Sarasota Bay, and some stakeholders believe that partnership will now expand to St. Petersburg.
Matthew Poling, a land-use attorney with Trenam Law, submitted the application on Kolter’s behalf. He could not immediately be reached for comment.
Kolter bought the 3.5-acre Hilton Bayfront property for $96 million in March. The proposed 1.32 million-square-foot project dwarfs the existing 15-story, 344,000-square-foot hotel.
Kolter is intimately familiar with the property. The developer built Saltaire, a 35-story condominium tower, on what was previously the hotel’s surface parking lot.
The redevelopment will feature a screened parking garage with 519 spaces. Kolter will also make 207 spaces in the Saltaire garage available to new residents, bringing the total parking capacity to 726 vehicles for 325 units.
“Traffic impact reports are not required in downtown,” the application notes. “The entitlements for the Project are already permitted by the property’s land use and zoning designations.”
Kolter will orient one tower towards 1st Street South, and the other will face the corner of
2nd Street South and 4th Avenue South, according to the application. The developer will leave 4,648 square feet of open space, significantly less than the current 10,241 square feet, adjacent to 1st Street South and 2nd Street South.
“The project provides amenities which are comparable to other buildings of its type in the city,” the application states. “No adverse effects of noise, lights, dust, fumes and other nuisances are expected given the compatibility of the project with the surrounding high-intensity, downtown mixed-use neighborhood.”
St. Petersburg City Council members, acting as the Community Redevelopment Agency, must find the project consistent with the Intown Redevelopment Plan. The city has not set an approval date, and Kolter did not provide an estimated construction timeline.
“The application is consistent with and furthers the purpose of the code and other city ordinances and actions designed to implement the Comprehensive Plan, specifically with regard to the promotion of redevelopment, elimination of surface parking and the promotion and expansion of downtown,” wrote Poling.
Kolter will operate the hotel until construction commences. The prominent luxury condominium developer’s local portfolio already includes ONE St. Petersburg, Art House and Saltaire, alongside a proposed 21-story tower at the former Fit2Run site downtown and a 129-unit waterfront project on St. Pete Beach.
