19-story apartment building approved for 1st Avenue North in downtown St. Pete

Last Wednesday, St. Pete’s Development Review Commission unanimously approved a 19-story apartment tower at 1641 and 1659 1st Avenue North in downtown St. Pete.

The project, which was first proposed in January, will feature 244 units along with a 256-space parking garage. St. Pete-based HP Capital Group and Chicago-based Tandem Partners are the developers.

HP Capital’s new 19-story apartment tower will be located at 1641 and 1659 1st Avenue North in downtown St. Pete.

HP Capital is the team behind Reflection, a 18-story condo tower under construction at 300 8th Street North, and a 264-unit affordable housing development proposed for Fairfield Avenue near the Warehouse Arts District.

The approved building on 1st Avenue North will include parking on the first through fourth floors with a total of 256 parking spaces, exceeding the 154 spaces required. 244 bicycle parking spaces will also be available.

“This area of the city is quickly becoming its own unique residential neighborhood and we are excited about being part of it,” says Fred Hemmer, Principal at HP Capital Group.

Residential units will be located on floors 5 through 18 and the rooftop will include resident amenity space including a pool. The 212-foot building was designed by Tampa-based BDG Architects.

The first four floors of the building will contain a 256-space parking garage.

The property is zoned Downtown Center-2 (DC-2) which allows for a base Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of 3.0. The project is utilizing an additional bonus of 4.0 FAR for a total FAR of 7.0. Additionally, the DC-2 zoning district allows for a base height of 125 feet and a maximum of 200 feet with approval from the Development Review Commission (DRC). The project is requesting a 12-foot height bonus because more than 50% of the ground floor consists of parking.

As part of these bonuses, the developers will contribute to the city’s Housing Capital Improvements Projects (HCIP) trust fund to aid in the city’s workforce housing efforts. The development will also feature sidewalk level public art with a value of $100,000 and the developers will contribute $50,000 to the City’s downtown public art program.

Also approved last Wednesday was a 23-story apartment tower located just three blocks north. That building, which will be located at 155 17th Street South will have 204 apartments, 6,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space fronting the Pinellas Trail.

Construction on HP Capital’s 19-story apartment tower is expected to begin in 2023.