Developer behind 46-story 400 Central condo tower to redevelop Mirror Lake property into residential tower

A rendering of the previously approved 23-story tower at the mirror lake site | city documents

After St. Pete Rising announced earlier this week that a prime redevelopment site on Mirror Lake was under contract, the developer behind Florida’s tallest residential tower revealed themselves to be the undisclosed buyer.

New York-based Red Apple Group is reportedly set to purchase the property for $13.2 million by the end of the year.

“As Mr. Catsimatidis alluded to recently, we are under contract to acquire this exciting piece of land near beautiful Mirror Lake in the heart of the Sunshine City’s downtown,” Kevin King, director of Florida operations for Red Apple, said in a statement to St. Pete Rising.

Currently, Red Apple is under construction on the 46-story Residences at 400 Central condominium tower in downtown St. Pete.

The site was home to the cara apartments, a six-building cluster of nearly 100 apartments, which was demolished earlier this year | google maps

The 0.94-acre Mirror Lake property, located at the corner of 5th Street North and 3rd Avenue North, was previously approved to be developed into a 23-story mixed-use tower containing 285 apartments and 10,000 square feet of retail space.

The previous proposal was designed with a floor area ratio (FAR) of 7.0, the highest density allowed in the Downtown Center-1 (DC-1) zoning district. As a result, it would not be permissible for Red Apple to construct a project larger than what has already been proposed.

However, Red Apple’s tower could be slightly taller if the density is kept to 7.0 FAR. Additionally, if Red Apple decides to build apartments, there will likely be more units, but smaller in size. If the tower contains condos, there will likely be less units, but larger in size.

“Whether it ends up being rental apartments or condos, we believe it will serve the needs of St. Pete well,” said King, noting more details will be revealed at a later date.

The current landowners are a group consisting of bitcoin mining company Hyperscale Data (formerly BitNile Holdings), former Illinois Congressman Aaron Schock, and Atlanta-based real estate investor Joshua Haywood.

A rendering of the previously proposed tower as seen from the northwest | city documents

“We are excited to have reached an agreement for the sale of our St. Petersburg development property, marking a milestone for new growth and investment in the region,” Hyperscale Data CEO William Horne said in a statement.

The property is situated in the Downtown Center-1 (DC-1) zoning district which allows for intense mixed-use development that enhance and support the downtown core by providing appropriate pedestrian amenities, pedestrian linkages, ground level retail, and cultural activities.

This new planned development from Red Apple will likely not be the group’s last venture in St. Petersburg.

Catsimatidis has publicly indicated that he is interested in pursuing other developments in the city and would invest his next $2 billion in Florida.