A mixed-use high-rise outfitted with smart technology is coming soon to Downtown St Pete. The Blake, which aims to be LEED Silver certified, will feature advanced energy and safety innovations designed to appeal to working professional homeowners in a post-Covid world. The new tower will replace the former Masonic Temple at 114 4th Street South.

The $40,000,000 project, developed by Blake Investment Partners and designed by architects Antunovich Associates, will consist of 20 floors, including 16 residential floors above a four-floor base that includes three levels of parking, commercial space, and lobby on the ground floor.

In total, there will be 51 residential condominium units, 111 parking spaces, 58 bicycle spaces, and 10,400 square feet of commercial space. All units will feature generous outdoor terraces, and residents will have access to a pool, garden, and a temperature-controlled wine cellar.

Also, the team is working with Red Bison, a Washington-based technology company, to integrate smart, touchless technology into the building's design. High-speed, secure internet infrastructure will be retrofitted and updated every three to five years. The plan is for residents to control all elements of building access and security from their phones, such as elevator access and entry for delivery personnel.

“The technology piece is so much more relevant post-Covid, because everyone is working from home, and they are running real businesses from home,” said developer Blake Thompson, CEO of Blake Investment Partners. “This building will be stable, safe, and secure. You’ll be able to run the elevators from your phone and not let the Uber Eats guy just roam around.”

“Everything is designed from a safety perspective, from a criminality to a virology perspective for Covid and other pathogens,” he continued. “That is combined with the fact that [the building] will have far fewer units than the other large towers in town. You’ll have fewer people, and it’ll be a lot more secure.”

The building will also feature advances in building products and methods with an emphasis on sustainability and a goal of achieving LEED Silver Certification. “From an energy perspective, water intrusion perspective, heating and cooling efficiency perspective, I think we're going to have the top spot on all of those things in St. Pete,” emphasized Thompson.

“We are building the Ferrari of buildings.”

Condos at The Blake will range from 1,500 to 2,500 square feet and will mostly be two-bedroom/two-bath units with a den, although there will be some three-bedroom/three-bath units with a den and a penthouse unit as well. Despite the advanced technological features, Thompson doesn’t anticipate unit price will be more expensive than comparable high-rise properties downtown, due to a reallocation of costs.

“I think we are using the money more smartly,” he noted. “Instead of tons of lawn chairs or common area amenities [that other developers use to attract residents] for example, we are reallocating the money in a smarter way.”

Just blocks away from public spaces like the St. Pete Pier and North Shore Aquatic Complex at Vinoy Park, the vision is that residents would prefer to pay for location and technology rather than luxurious shared, common amenities. With a Walk Score of 98, the location is a “Walker's Paradise” and daily errands will not require a car.

Thompson scrapped plans for restoring the former Masonic Temple currently located on the site, including potentially turning it into an event space, after it became clear there was no realistic way to safely and effectively restore the three-story building. Instead, portions of the marble storefront of the existing building will be salvaged and repurposed or replicated in the storefront of the new building.

The Temple, which was built in 1955 and served as a meeting place for the Masons in the 1960s and 1970s, has no historic designation and is not located in a historic district. Thompson, who purchased the property in October 2017 for $2.5 million, will donate the former Mason Temple sign, dubbed a “sign of historic significance” by the city in 2016, to a local Mason lodge.

Thompson is not seeking financing and will skip pre-sale and move right into construction. Site work on the property will begin in fall 2021, with construction planned for January of 2022. He will also contribute to the city’s affordable housing fund and will buy transfer of development rights (TDRs) from a locally designated landmark to achieve the necessary Floor Area Ratio (FAR) bonuses required to build the proposal.

Although the Masonic Lodge itself couldn’t be salvaged, Thompson is optimistic about the future of the site and the role it will play in shaping the architectural landscape of downtown St. Pete for years to come.

“History, as much as it is retroactive, you're making history going forward, so you still want to construct meaningful buildings,” said Thompson. “Everybody is always worried about the architectural significance of the past; I'm worried about the architectural significance of the future. I would like our town to have architectural significance moving ahead.”

“Think of the Dali and the Museum of the American Arts and Crafts Movement - a lot of people toiled over these really meaningful buildings,” he continued. “I want to keep going that way, to keep building beautiful buildings and not keep building the same thing over and over again. I’m focused on trying to make something meaningful out of Downtown St. Pete and keep contributing where I can.”