The team behind Orange Station, a mixed-use development planned for downtown St. Pete’s EDGE District, has announced major changes to the project which includes increasing the amount of office space, adding a boutique hotel, and removing the development’s luxury condominiums.  

Orange Station was announced by Edge Central Development Partners in late 2019 in a request for proposal (RFP) process spearheaded by the City of St. Petersburg.

The project is a joint venture of J Square Developers, DDA Development, and Backstreets Capital, LLC, who have previously worked on other St. Petersburg developments like The Salvador, St. James Townhomes, and The Nolen.

The team was selected to redevelop a two-acre city-owned parcel at 1300 1st Avenue North that was once occupied by the St. Pete Police Department headquarters building, which moved into a new building at 1301 1st Avenue North in 2019.

When Orange Station was announced, the plan featured a mix of uses including luxury condominiums, workforce housing, office space, ground floor retail space, a public parking garage, and a civil rights era-inspired public plaza.

However, since the development was announced, the national housing market has shifted with rising interest rates and increases in construction costs. These macroeconomic headwinds made financing the development increasingly difficult, forcing the development team to make major changes to the project.

The revised plan for the development calls for removal of the project’s luxury condominium component – The Residences at Orange Station ­– which was to be 16 stories with 61 units. The base of the building also featured 50,000 square feet of Class A office space.

In a message to contracted buyers, the development team states, “it has become clear to us that because of a lack of financing, the condominium portion of Orange Station is no longer viable.”

Replacing The Residences at Orange Station will be a 125,000 square foot Class A office building. The office building will front Central Avenue and will be 11 stories with ground floor retail. The proposed office building represents the first major office development for downtown St. Pete in decades.

Another major change is an announcement that an Autograph Collection Hotel will accompany the development at the northeast corner of the site.  The pad was once slated for an office building but is being swapped for a boutique hotel that will be developed by Tampa-based Ellison Development.

The Autograph Collection, Marriott states on its website, consists of “independent hotels handpicked for originality and passion in their every expression.” The development team says the hotel is conceived as an urban lifestyle hotel designed to interface with the Orange Station plaza and become the “living room” of the EDGE District.

The proposed Autograph Collection Hotel would be the second in downtown St. Pete. Last month, The Vinoy St. Petersburg Resort & Golf Club rebranded as an Autograph Collection Hotel. Other Autograph Collection Hotels in Tampa Bay include the Fenway Hotel in Dunedin as well as The CURRENT Hotel and The Epicurean Hotel in Tampa.

The proposed EDGE District hotel is expected to have a restaurant and bar as well as meeting and conference rooms, event spaces, state-of-the-art fitness facilities, a multi-level theater, and a rooftop pool.

“We’re excited to work with a like-minded brand such as Autograph Collection Hotels, who are also known for the same uniqueness that sets the EDGE District apart,” said Casey Ellison, CEO of Ellison Companies.

Ellison is also joining Edge Central Development Partners as a joint venture partner for the rest of the project.

“One of the benefits of a 100% local development team working in partnership with the City on a complex mixed-use project like Orange Station is the ability to understand and respond to the needs of the neighborhood and shifts in market conditions,” said Will Conroy, of Edge Central Development Partners. “We are grateful for all of the hard work our partners have put into making this project come to life and we look forward to moving ahead.”

The development team is not making changes to the project’s 42-unit workforce housing component, named The Wye, which will front 1st Avenue North.

Also not changing is a proposed public plaza with outdoor cafes and a public art tribute designed by Ya La’Ford to honor “The Courageous 12,” the 12 Black St. Petersburg police officers who successfully sued the city in the 1960s to gain the same rights as their white counterparts.   

In total, the revised project calls for 125,000 square feet of office space, 42 workforce apartments, 14,000 square feet of ground floor retail along Central Avenue and 1st Avenue North, a 680-space parking garage with at least 400 public parking spaces, and an Autograph Collection Hotel.  

“A premium, lifestyle hotel concept at the level of the Autograph Collection Hotels is the perfect complement to our project, which features the first new Class A office space in the area in 30+ years, plus ground-level retail space, workforce housing, and public parking,” said Bowen Arnold of Edge Central Development Partners, the partnership group developing the project. 

Before the project can move forward, a revised development agreement must go before City Council for approval. If approved, construction could begin as early as the fourth quarter of 2023.