42-unit mixed-use building proposed for 16th Street near downtown St. Pete
A mixed-use building has been proposed for 16th Street outside of downtown St. Petersburg.
TRB Development, which recently announced plans for a 7-unit townhome project in Woodlawn, has announced an apartment building at 821 16th Street North on a site which was previously home to a legal office.
The project is proposed for 821 16th Street North.
TRB Development is owned by Trevor Burgess and Jon Carlon. Burgess currently serves as CEO of Neptune Flood, a St. Pete-based digital flood insurance company. Carlon serves as President of TRB Development. Both previously worked at C1 Bank where Burgess served as CEO and Carlon served as Chief of Staff.
TRB purchased the 0.70-acre lot in January 2022 for just under $1.4 million.
The planned four-story building will contain 42 apartments ranging from studio units with 564 square feet of living space to two-bedroom units with 1,205 square feet. One-bedroom units will be 715 square feet.
The ground floor will consist of one 895-square-foot retail space. TBR already has its eyes on a tenant, potentially a café, that would be compatible with the redevelopment of the 16th Street corridor.
“This apartment project has three goals: first, to provide a high quality, cultivated all-concrete rental project in the downtown core; second, to be more affordable than the existing downtown offerings; and third, to lead the livable re-development of 16th street by incorporating retail space,” said Jonathan Carlon, President TRB Development.
The apartment building will have 42 units and 21 parking spaces along with a ground floor retail space.
The building will have 21 parking spaces which exceeds requirements and is sufficient for a parking ratio of 0.5 spaces per unit. There will be ample bike parking on site and the building will have a deliberate focus on walking, biking, and riding public transportation as preferred methods of transportation.
All of the units in the building will be rented at market rates but are expected to be priced below similar units in downtown St. Pete. TRB initially wanted to include workforce housing units in the project but found the city’s process too arduous.
The project will be developed on a lot that was previously home to a legal office. The parcel sold in January 2022.
“We originally designed for 48 units rather than 42 thinking we would take advantage of the workforce housing bonus,” says Carlon. “The administrative costs including paperwork, time, and workforce requirements in perpetuity for a small project like this were prohibitive so we cut back to the allowed 42 units.”
“For a small developer trying to help address the housing crisis, all the added work for six units overwhelms any benefit,” he adds.
The city has discussed increasing the workforce housing density bonus program to better incentivize developers to use it. Projects like TRB’s development 821 16th Street would likely benefit most from increased density bonuses from that program.
In addition to TRB Development, other partners in the project include Sergio DeSanto at Renker Eich Parks Architects, Deuel & Associates for civil engineering services, and Steve Loupin at Loupin Construction, which is serving as the project’s general contractor.
Construction on the apartment building at 821 16th Street North is expected to begin later this fall with a completion in 2023.