In one of the final working days of his administration, Mayor Kriseman has announced the winner of an RFP that was issued in November by the City of St. Pete.

The mayor has selected a proposal from a group comprised of Dynasty Financial Partners, ARK Invest, and GF Investments to redevelop a city-owned lot at 910 2nd Avenue South in downtown St. Pete. Currently, the property is a dirt parking lot serving Tropicana Field.

In early November, the City of St. Petersburg received an unsolicited offer from Atlas Real Estate Partners, which owns The Wayland, a 481-unit apartment complex at 300 10th Street South, to purchase and develop a mixed-use project on the 2.02-acre lot.

The parcel is bound by 2nd Avenue South and 3rd Avenue South between Dr. MLK Jr. Street and 10th Street.

In receiving an unsolicited offer, the city was required to seek alternative offers before selecting. Alternative development proposals were due on December 10th and the City received six additional offers. After reviewing each proposal, Mayor Kriseman has chosen Dynasty’s proposal because of the build-to-suit nature of the office tenants versus having speculative office space in the other proposals.

Dynasty Financial, which moved their headquarters from NYC to St. Pete in 2019, offered $6.25 million for the lot and is proposing a 36-story mixed-use building that would feature 60,000 to 90,000 square feet of Class A office space. The new building would serve as the headquarters for the company.

ARK Invest, an investment management firm led by Cathie Wood, which recently announced a relocation of its headquarters to St. Pete, may also lease space in the building. The proposed office space would take up seven floors of the building according to preliminary plans. 

Additionally, the building would include between 350 to 400 residential rental units, of which 12% would be income-restricted workforce housing. The project also contains 15,000 to 20,000 square feet of ground floor retail space.

Iron Chef and Michelin star holder Marc Forgione of New York and James Beard Foundation Award-winning Chef Michelle Bernstein of Miami have expressed an interest in opening restaurants in the building according to the proposal.

The project also includes establishing an Innovation and Recruiting Hub that focuses on financial services and data analytics to drive economic development and innovation in St. Petersburg. Potential participants in the innovation hub include Dynasty Financial, ARK Invest, Third Lake Partners, and Revolution.  

In selecting Dynasty’s proposal to develop the lot, the City will now negotiate a term sheet that must be approved by City Council. Once terms are agreed to, Dynasty will have 120 days to conduct due diligence prior to closing.

A construction timeline has not been announced and total project costs are estimated to be between $140 and $160 million.