204-unit apartment building proposed for Central Avenue in west St. Pete
/When Gallery 3100, a 122-unit apartment building, broke ground earlier this year at 3100 Central Avenue, it marked the farthest west new multifamily development had reached since the revitalization of Central Avenue began. Located just a few blocks from 34th Street, many wondered if, or when, new development would leap over U.S. 19 and expand to west St. Petersburg. Well, it appears the westward spread will continue.
A preliminary rendering of Sixty90 as viewed from Central Avenue.
Local real estate firm DDA Development is proposing a four-story, 204-unit multifamily development on the 6000 block of Central Avenue in west St. Pete. DDA, which is led by Bowen Arnold and John Schilling, closed on the land last Friday in a $5.6 million purchase from local businessman Bill Edwards.
The three acre site is an assemblage of two parcels that currently includes several buildings and surface parking lots.
DDA Development has previously worked on a number of projects in St. Pete. Most recently the group completed The Salvador, a 13-story condominium tower at 199 Dali Boulevard, and Campbell Landings, a 5-story affordable 55+ apartment building at 365 6th Street South. They are also involved in the Orange Station on the Edge development which will feature residential condos, workforce housing apartments, Class A office space, and ground floor retail space. Craig Sher and Will Conroy of Backstreets Capital are also partners in the project.
Sixty90 will be located at 6090 Central Avenue in the West Central District.
The group’s west St. Pete project is expected to be named Sixty90, a reference to the building’s 6090 Central Avenue address. The land is located in Corridor Residential Traditional-1 (CRT-1) zoning district and in the Central Avenue Corridor Activity Center, which allows a maximum of 60 dwelling units per acre. DDA will also be utilizing an 8 unit per acre workforce housing density bonus for a total of 68 units per acre.
As such, the project is expected to have workforce apartments and market rate housing apartments. The workforce housing units will be income restricted for residents making between 80% and 120% of area median income (AMI).
There’s also preliminary discussion for the project to include 5,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space, ideal for a coffee shop or a small grocery store, however the decision to include retail has not yet been finalized.
Sixty90 will feature two courtyards and a pre-cast parking garage. Garage access will be located along 1st Avenue South.
The building will be built with concrete block, a differentiator compared to several wood frame apartment buildings which have been completed in recent years. It will have a pre-cast parking garage and two courtyards.
“We are excited to bring a new class A apartment development to Central Avenue. Residents will have easy access to the new Sun Runner BRT line and the Pinellas Trail, and will be minutes from the beaches or downtown St. Pete,” says Bowen Arnold, Principal at DDA Development.
These photos of a similar project show what Sixty90 could look like when complete. However designs are still being completed.
Redeveloping the Central Avenue corridor has been a priority for the City of St. Pete. In 2012 the City created the Central Avenue Revitalization Plan in order to create individual districts along the corridor with unique identities. Since 2012, the EDGE District and Grand Central District have undergone streetscape improvements in order to revitalize those areas.
Sixty90 will be located in the West Central District which is set to go through a major streetscaping project in 2021 with completion in 2022. The streetscaping project will include new traffic signals, enhanced crosswalks, new landscaped medians, and will replace a water main. The City hopes the streetscape improvements will help create a brand identity for the West Central District.
Additionally, Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority’s (PSTA) SunRunner bus rapid transit line will help connect Sixty90 and the West Central District to downtown St. Pete and the Pinellas beaches. The SunRunner will be the first of its kind rapid transit line in Tampa Bay and will run on 1st Avenue North and 1st Avenue South along the Central Avenue corridor. The line is expected to open in 2022. Sixty90 will be located just a few blocks from two SunRunner stations.
PSTA’s SunRunner BRT line is currently under construction with operations to begin in 2022.
The SunRunner bus rapid transit line is expected to increase property values and spur new development. PSTA is currently developing a transit oriented development (TOD) study to create guidelines to facilitate economic development along the corridor.
“The SunRunner is building on the success of the downtown resurgence, but clearly it’s also a catalyst bringing new development to the Central Avenue corridor. We know that public transportation is an economic stimulator. A study by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) says real estate values are 40% more resilient near major transit investments and rents can also be higher as they are off-set by the reduced cost of transportation to residents,” says Cassandra Borchers, Chief Development Officer of PSTA. “PSTA is excited for this major investment in public transportation, that can support the economy and the growth of St. Petersburg, to open in 2022.”
Infrastructure investments like the West Central streetscaping project along with transportation investments like PSTA’s SunRunner project, will likely lead to more projects, like Sixty90, along the Central Avenue corridor.
DDA Development hopes to begin construction on Sixty90 in the third quarter of 2021. Construction is expected to take 15 months with a completion in late 2022 or early 2023.
