The City of St. Pete is moving forward with a proposal for the redevelopment of a prime Central Avenue block in downtown’s booming EDGE District. 

Earlier this year, the St. Pete Police Department moved into a new 170,000 square foot headquarters building at 1301 1st Avenue North. The completion of the new $78.5 million facility paved the way for the redevelopment of the former police station, which sits on 2 acres directly across the street at 1300 1st Avenue North.

In January, with the new headquarters nearing completion, the City began the redevelopment process by issuing a request for proposal (RFP), inviting developers to submit their vision for the site. The RFP contained a list of items and uses that defined the type of development the city wanted to see on the site. In May, it was announced that seven groups had submitted proposals. And of those seven, two were invited to City Hall to present their proposals.

A prime city-owned block on Central Avenue is moving one step closer to redevelopment with the narrowing down of potential proposals. Back in January, the City of St. Petersburg issued a request for proposal (RFP) for the purchase and development of the property located at 1300 1st Avenue North in the EDGE District. The property is the site of the former headquarters of the St. Pete Police Department, which moved into a new building across the street earlier this year. 

The RFP contained a list of items and uses, both required and preferred, that defined the type of development the city envisions for the site. The ultimate goal of the RFP was to attract proposals that were mixed-use in nature with retail, office, mixed-income housing, civic/park space, and possibly a hotel. 

Submissions were due on May 10th and the city received a total of seven proposals, which featured a range of concepts from national developers and local groups. One common denominator across the proposals is the inclusion of ground floor retail and public parking, both of which were high on the city’s priority list for the site.