Miramar Beach Resort expansion, rooftop restaurant approved in St. Pete Beach
An expansion of the Miramar Beach Resort on St. Pete Beach has been unanimously approved.
During a Tuesday St. Pete Beach planning board meeting, members voted to support a conditional use approval (CUP) to construct a new 30-unit hotel building at 4200 Gulf Boulevard.
The existing two-story, two-building resort, which was constructed in 1953, would demolish 10 existing hotel units and both ground-level pools in favor of a new 76-foot-tall building at the rear of the resort just behind the towering sand dunes.
The view of the beachfront from the upper levels of the exising miramar beach resort | st. pete rising
The owner also requested permission to have outdoor seating for a fine dining restaurant on the eighth-floor rooftop.
The 90-seat restaurant and bar will have 1,555 square feet of indoor space and a 500-square-foot outdoor balcony.
Miramar Resort owner Kevin Bowden previously said the restaurant and bar will be partially enclosed to mitigate noise levels and also host weddings and other private events.
Unlike the Cambria Hotel, which Bowden also owns, there will not be a rooftop pool, but rather a new ground-level pool at the base of the building to replace the two existing pools that will be demolished to make way for the new building.
One of the pools that will be demolished | st. pete rising
Bowden is working with St. Petersburg architect Jack Bodziak and partner Britt Browne Hayes on plans for the $40 million project that will keep the resort’s nostalgic 1950s-inspired design.
The additional rooms would range from 400 to around 500 square feet.
A guest room fronting the entrance will be converted into a temporary lobby while the renovation is in progress. A new lobby will be built near the front of the property.
The renovations will also bring the parking count to 48 spaces, more than doubling the 20 spaces currently on site. The resort will also have a full valet service.
The project will not impact views from the neighboring resorts.
A rendering of the proposed hotel | Miramar Resort
The property sits adjacent to a public beach access point and sand dunes, which became inaccessible after Hurricane Helene rolled through the area in late September. The Bodziak firm and Bowden are working with the state to address the situation, as they cannot interfere with the sand dunes.
Now that the project has approval from the planning board, St. Pete Beach City Council is expected to hold a first reading for the project in December. If passed, construction work will commence in early 2025.
The Bodziak firm is continuing to develop and draft construction documents and drawings while awaiting full project approval.
The latest plan is a scaled-back version of the original vision to construct a modern building with 54 new rooms to the property, which city commissioners approved in 2021 under Mayor Al Johnson’s administration.