After community concerns, a St. Pete-based developer is significantly reducing the height of the planned Lake House condominium tower that may soon rise on Mirror Lake.

St. Pete-based Skyward Living, which is helmed by St. Pete local Hudson Harr, now proposes to build an 11-story upscale condo building at 200 Mirror Lake Drive North, a seven story decrease from the original 18-story plan.

“A year ago, when the original proposal went before the St. Petersburg DRC [Development Review Commission], there was discussion about the parking podium and whether it could be reduced by an additional level,” Harr said in a conversation with St. Pete Rising.

The development team acquiesced, decreasing the parking podium height from five stories to three and increasing the tower’s setback as a result of comments from Derek Kilborn, Manager of the City of St. Petersburg's Urban Planning and Historic Preservation Division.

Skyward Living is now proposing a 16-foot setback for the building on the side facing Mirror Lake Drive "to further minimize the building mass adjacent to this important public open space," according to the application.

The required minimum setback is 10 feet.

“I think we've found a way to build a viable project without the enormous scale you see in every other condo tower,” Harr said.

According to the newly filed application, the new condo tower will be more consistent with neighboring buildings, including the Tomlinson Adult Learning Center, which is slated to be renovated into workforce housing, and the Lyceum, a historic meeting and social event venue that is now owned by BridgePoint Church.

With the reduced height and setbacks on all four sides, the initially planned 77-unit residential condo tower will now have 45 units. The tower will also include 72 parking spaces in a three-level garage, a reduction of 61 spaces from the original plan.

Additionally, the tower will fall below the maximum base height of 125 feet, down from a height of 200 feet.

The front of the three-story parking podium will have brick detailing, multi-pane windows, and decorative railings.

The first floor of the building will feature a lobby, garage entry, retail space, and an expansive pavilion to serve as a meeting place for the community.

The second and third floors will house the parking garage and one residential unit per floor. The fourth floor will have amenity spaces with a pool and terrace.

Floors five through ten will have six units per floor, and the 11th floor will have four penthouses.

The previously planned 840-square-foot cafe on the southeast corner will remain with a sculpture by local artist Ya La’Ford at the corner of 2nd Avenue and Mirror Lake Drive.

Currently, five one and two-story buildings occupy the Lake House property. Three of the five buildings are contributing structures to the National Register Downtown St. Petersburg Historic District. However, as contributing structures within a national register historic district, the buildings are not protected from demolition.

“We have some concerns, including the demolition of several properties in the Downtown National Register District, but appreciate that the developer is working to bring this project more in scale with Mirror Lake, especially along the lakefront,” Manny Leto, Executive Director at Preserve the ‘Burg, said to St. Pete Rising.

Harr and Preserve the ‘Burg leadership have been actively communicating about the project throughout the downsizing process, discussing how to ensure the project fits in with the existing Mirror Lake neighborhood context.

“We look forward to continued dialogue as it moves through the development review process,” Leto said.

Mirror Lake is the oldest neighborhood in St. Petersburg and is home to several local and national historic landmark buildings, including the St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club, the Coliseum, the Lyceum, the Mirror Lake Library, and the Mirror Lake Condominiums (formerly St. Petersburg High School).

“These places help form St. Petersburg's unique identity and help distinguish us from other cities, so it’s critical that we protect the historic character of this neighborhood,” Leto said.

In addition to its close proximity to many historic structures, the Lake House property, which is within the Downtown Center-2 (DC-2) zoning district, is also surrounded by newly constructed developments such as Reflection, an 18-story 81-unit condo tower just north of the Lake House site and The Mirror, a six-story mixed-use development including office space and condominiums that was completed in 2020.

The developer will seek streamlined approval as the 91,938-square-foot building will have a 4.30 Floor Area Ratio (FAR). The DC-2 zoning district, for which this project is in, allows for a base FAR of 3.0. 

The project will achieve the additional 1.3 in FAR by paying into the city’s Housing Capital Improvements Project (HCIP) fund, which supports the construction of affordable housing. Skyward Living will also purchase transfer of development rights (TDRs) from a locally designated landmark or landmark site.

The developer is working with Tim Clemmons and Jenny Miers of St. Pete-based Place Architecture.

Skyward Living previously worked with Clemmons to build Liv233, a three-unit townhome community on 4th Avenue North, and Urbana Townhomes, a five-unit townhome community on 7th Street South, along with many other residential infill developments.

Skyward Living's altered plans for Lake House will go before the St. Petersburg DRC on April 3rd.