One of downtown St. Pete’s most popular apartment complexes, Camden Pier District, is planning an expansion that will add an 18-story 95-unit tower to the existing 357-unit community, which is located at 330 3rd Street South.

“We are excited to expand Camden Pier District to provide additional high-quality housing to the St. Pete market,” said Ric Campo CEO of Camden Property Trust. “St. Pete is a great place to live, work, and play and we are glad to be part of this growing great city.”

Last Tuesday, Camden Property Trust paid $2.1 million for a 0.23-acre property located at 201 4th Avenue South on the southeastern corner of the existing development. The lot is currently home to a medical office and a single-family house. Both buildings will be demolished to make way for the new tower.

The site plan for the $30 million project, including floor area ratio (FAR) bonuses, was administratively approved by the Planning & Development Services Department on May 6th.

On July 15th, the development will be heard before the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) for consistency with the Intown Redevelopment Plan (IRP). The IRP was adopted in March of 1982 to address blight and slum conditions by encouraging and reinforcing development, developing integrated transportation systems, and ensuring that development reinforces and maintains historic, cultural, and aesthetic integrity.

The ground floor of the proposed tower will consist of a residential lobby and residential units. The residential units on the ground floor will have a private courtyard with direct access to 4th Avenue South and 2nd Street South. Floors two through 17 will consist of residential units. The 18th floor will be an outdoor amenity deck.

The existing parking garage will be used by the new residents of the tower, as the previous approvals contained excess parking spaces. The minimum required parking spaces is 412 and the community was originally built with 596 spaces.

Site improvements include sidewalks, street trees, landscaping and lighting, and a covered walkway between the existing parking garage and the proposed building. An additional 61 bicycle parking spaces will be added as well.

In exchange for increased density, Camden Property Trust will make a $105,000 contribution to the Housing Capital Improvements Projects (HCIP) trust fund to aid in the city’s workforce housing efforts.

Completed in 2016, Camden Pier District (then known as AER) was developed by Miami-based American Land Ventures, which is currently under construction on another apartment tower across the street at 334 2nd Avenue South.

In January 2018, American Land Ventures sold AER to Houston-based Camden Property Trust for $126.3 million, or $354,745 per unit, which at the time represented a record amount for a multi-family rental project in Tampa Bay. After the sale, the property was renamed Camden Pier District.

Although St. Pete has been experiencing rapid growth for several years, the growth has accelerated lately due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The influx of new residents is a result of Florida’s favorable tax climate, the rise of remote working, and St. Pete’s 361 days of sunshine per year.

The increase in population has led to extremely low vacancy rates, which has, in turn, caused a rise in rental rates. Camden Pier District is currently 99% occupied. The addition of downtown residential units through projects like Camden Pier District’s expansion will help dampen rental rate increases.

If Camden Pier District’s expansion is approved by the CRA on July 15th, the next step is to submit plans for permitting. Construction is expected to begin by mid-2022 with move-in’s slated for summer 2024.