Yesterday, St. Pete’s Development Review Commission unanimously approved plans for a mixed-use development planned for the southwest corner of 34th Street South and 42nd Avenue South in the Skyway Marina District.

The project at 4311 34th Street South was announced by St. Pete Rising in early June and will feature a 400-unit multifamily building along with a 95,000 square foot self-storage facility, a 2,400 square foot bank, and a 4,500 square foot restaurant pad.

The land is under contract for purchase by Jack Dougherty of Allied Group Holdings and is currently occupied by an underutilized strip mall. Allied Group previously sold a 5.25-acre parcel just south of the site to Sarasota-based LifeStar Living which is planning to construct a nine-story luxury senior living community – The Manhattan.

The multifamily portion of the project will be named Marina Beach and will be eight stories with six floors of rental units and two floors of structured parking. Resident amenity spaces will be located on the ground floor along with the third and eight floors. The apartment building’s height will be 84 feet – the maximum allowed for the area. Additionally the project will have 771 parking spaces which exceeds the 661 spaces required.

The self-storage facility will occupy the southeastern portion of the site along 34th Street South and will contain 750 storage units. According to renderings, the self-storage facility will be managed by LifeStorage.

Two retail outparcel buildings, which will contain a bank and a restaurant, will also front 34th Street South. Additionally, according to the submitted site plans, a large plaza will be located adjacent to the restaurant pad.

Plans for a restaurant and a bank are welcome news for the Skyway Marina District which has long sought to attract national and local tenants to the district.

Recently, St. Pete Catalyst reported that a Zaxby’s is planning build a new restaurant at 3700 38th Avenue South on the site of a former car wash. A Starbucks and Tropical Smoothie are also in the works for the Skyway Marina District as retailers look to capitalize on the over 1,300 new residential units in development.

In addition to Marina Beach, Marina Walk, and The Manhattan, the neighborhood has seen a number of new projects in development over the past two eyars. Sur Club, a 296-unit apartment complex and The Addison Skyway Marina, a 308-unit luxury apartment community, both opened earlier this year. And, Skyway Lofts, an affordable housing community, broke ground last year and will bring another 65 units to the neighborhood in 2022.

City staff recommended approval of Marina Beach and the Development Review Commission unanimously agreed. No construction timeline for Marina Beach has been announced.