After 2020 seemed like a never-ending year, we are optimistic about what 2021 will bring for St. Pete. There is no doubt that COVID-19 had, and will continue to have, an impact on commercial real estate all over the United States -- and St. Pete is no exception. Last year several developments in downtown St. Pete were paused, put on hold, or cancelled entirely due to the impact of the COVID-19. However, despite the pandemic, there has continued to be developer interest in the area and we expect downtown St. Pete to fare well in 2021.

This year, after much delay, the Museum of the American Arts of Crafts Movement (MAACM) should open the public. The 5-story $90 million museum was slated to open in 2020, but COVID-19 caused delays in the production construction materials needed for completion. Once open, the MAACM will be the only in the world dedicated to the historic American Arts and Crafts Movement. The museum will feature a multi-story atrium, a circular staircase, 40,000 square feet of gallery space, and a 9,000-square-foot destination restaurant.

Apartments

Four new apartment buildings, totaling 832 new units, came online in 2020 – Vantage, 1701 Central, Artistry, and The Exchange. Despite concerns about the wave of new supply, the lease-up of these communities has been strong with Vantage leading the way with 86% of units leased as of this month.

After the supply wave in 2020, a lull in new deliveries in 2021 will allow market demand to catch up.  However, we expect a number of exciting groundbreakings.

Gallery 3100, a 122-unit development located at 3100 Central Avenue, has been under construction since early 2020 and is expected to begin move-ins later this year. Just north of Gallery 3100, the final 128-unit phase of the Elements on Third project should also finish up.

Later this year, Boley Centers and Pinellas Affordable Living, Inc will wrap up construction on a 20-unit affordable housing project on 715 5th Avenue North named the Butterfly Apartments.

As for groundbreakings, we expect the EDGE District to have a big year with three new multi-family developments potentially breaking ground -- the METRO in mid-2021 followed by Orange Station and 1000 1st Avenue North in late 2021. Together, these three projects will add 442 units to the neighborhood when they come online in 2023.

There is also potential for American Land Ventures to finally break ground on a 23-story called The Vibe at 211 3rd Street South, across the street from Camden Pier District, another multi-family tower which the company completed in 2016.

Vertical construction will begin on Ascent St. Pete, which broke ground a few weeks ago at 225 1st Avenue North. Completion of Ascent St. Petersburg is expected in 2023. Other projects, such as 900 Central Avenue and 450 1st Avenue North are still in the preliminary design stages and are not anticipated to break ground in 2021.

Condominiums

Will 2021 be the year 400 Central breaks ground? We expect a sales center for the project to open at 465 Central Avenue in the first half of the year, and depending on sales, the massive 45-story tower could break ground before the end of the year. 400 Central, which is being developed by Red Apple Real Estate, will include 300 condominiums and a 225-key boutique hotel.

Domus Urbana, a five-story 40-unit condominium project proposed for 644 3rd Avenue South will likely break ground in the first half of the year. The development is already over 50% sold. Pricing on the remaining units starts in the mid-400’s.

One of our most anticipated ground breakings this year is for Reflection, an 81-unit condominium tower, fronting the beautiful Mirror Lake with unobstructed views of the downtown St. Pete skyline. Over 37% of the units have been reserved and pricing starts in the 500’s. Reflection will include a massive 12,000 square foot rooftop oasis with a resort style pool, sauna, and spa. The 18-story building will also have about 3,300 square feet of ground floor retail space.

Also be on the lookout for Driftwood on Central, an 11-unit mixed-use townhome community, to break ground at 2875 Central Avenue in the Grand Central District.

Saltaire will continue to make progress this year but is not expected to be completed until 2022.

A pair of townhome communities, Six Point Row and The District on 9th will wrap up construction this year. Six Point Row is located at 2611 1st Avenue North in the Grand Central District. All 19 units have been sold. The District on 9th, which started construction in 2017, experienced long delays when the developer, ICON Residential, went bankrupt. Recently, Canopy Builders and Tampa Bay City Living bought the remaining units and will wrap up construction in the next six months.

Hotels

The hotel industry has taken a massive hit due to COVID-19. Occupancy rates for hotels dropped to 44.0% in the United States last year. Comparatively, Tampa/St. Pete fared better than most markets with an occupancy rate of 50.8%. In fact, the Tampa/St. Pete was the only Top 25 Market to reach 50% occupancy in 2020.

Downtown St. Pete did see one new hotel delivery in 2020, a TRU by Hilton hotel opened in July. The 132-unit hotel opened at 1650 Central Avenue in the Grand Central District.

As a result of lower occupancies and uncertainty regarding travel due to COVID-19, securing financing to construct new hotels have been extremely difficult without significant capital.

We recently published an update on DevMar Development’s proposed EDGE District project, which is now slated to be multi-family instead of a hotel. Another EDGE District development, The EDGE Collective, which was expected to include a Marriott Moxy, may also be converting their planned hotel to multi-family.

Luckily, St. Pete still has a few hotels in the pipeline. Ascent St. Pete is still on track to include an AC Hotel by Marriott. The 36-story project just broke ground a few weeks ago at 225 1st Avenue North, across the street from the popular Jannus Block.

As of now, 400 Central’s 225-key boutique hotel is still moving forward, however we’ve recently heard whispers of a building reconfiguration. Although just speculation, this could be alluding to a phased construction plan (as opposed to being built in a single phase), the hotel flag (i.e. Marriott) being dropped, or cancelling the hotel portion of the project altogether.

Lastly, what’s the story with the Galaxy Hotel? Nothing has come quickly for the unfinished yellow and green building that sits at the corner of 1st Street North and 3rd Avenue North. Owner Savni Bakrac bought the land in 2009 and the City of St. Pete approved a hotel for the site in 2010. The Galaxy Hotel was expected to break ground in May 2015 but was held up by financing. Finally, the hotel broke ground in 2018, but construction has been moving at a snail’s pace. Will 2021 be the year the Galaxy Hotel opens to the public? Hopefully, but we’re not holding our breath.

At St. Pete Rising, despite the difficulties of last year, we remain confident in the continued development of Downtown St. Petersburg, FL. As always, St. Pete leaders and the community need to continue to address areas of improvement, such as transportation, affordable housing, racial equity, and safety. Among others, these are sure to be important topics for the upcoming mayoral election in November.

There are many developments in the pipeline for our incredible city that we cannot wait to tell you about this year. Be sure to stay tuned to our social media channels or sign up for our newsletter to never miss the latest news on everything new and coming soon to the Sunshine City! Here’s to a great 2021!