A 21-story building with 200 apartments, 10,843 square feet of commercial space, and a 264-space parking garage has been proposed for 699 1st Avenue North, on the southwest edge of the Mirror Lake neighborhood in downtown St. Petersburg.

According to a Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) application filed by SPGRP II LLC, a limited liability company controlled by real estate investment and development company Gravel Road Partners, the project will also include open public space and possibly a covered plaza with an art installation on its northeast side, providing a buffer between it and the Unitarian Universalist Church of St. Petersburg at 100 Mirror Lake Drive.

“The resulting setback provides an even further separation between the project and the church than the existing approximately 30 feet which is provided by Arlington Avenue North, and significantly exceeds what is required by code,” as stated in the CRA application.

The open area, which could include park space, will also serve as a pedestrian linkage between Arlington Avenue North and 1st Avenue North, according to the application.

“With the building having a double height (22 feet) ground floor, this additional open space provides a unique feature that will significantly reduce the mass of the building at ground level,” the document reads. “The plaza runs from Arlington Avenue North all the way to 1st Avenue North, providing a complete midblock pedestrian connection between these roadways.

A mural or other public art is contemplated on the northeast corner of the building facing Arlington Avenue North.”

In addition to vehicular parking garage, the development will also feature 214 long-term bicycle parking spaces.

SPGRP II LLC is listed as the owner of the property, which also encompasses 685 1st Avenue North and 694 Arlington Avenue North and is currently occupied by a vacant office building, vacant triplex, and surface parking lot. According to Pinellas County records, the properties were sold in March 2022 for $6.4 million.

The sale was the first of two major land purchases for Gravel Roads in St. Petersburg. In September, the group closed on a two-acre property at 4201 6th Street South for $1.7 million. Plans for that site, which was formerly home to The Old Landmark Cathedral of God, have not been announced.

According to its website, Gravel Road Partners is “a value-add / opportunistic development and investment firm primarily focused on workforce and market rate housing across emerging secondary and tertiary U.S. markets.”

The company was founded in 2020 by Michael Burke, Tyler Herbert, and Thomas Toepke, a trio of ex-employees from Convene, a New York City-based coworking and event space company. Together, the three founding partners have over 50 years of commercial real estate experience.

“At Gravel Road, we are focused on building meaningful relationships among communities in which we invest and operate. Each year, the firm contributes a portion of its profits to support local community initiatives in cities that we invest.”

Before construction can begin, the development will need to be approved by the Community Redevelopment Agency and receive site plan approval.

The 0.57-acre property is zoned Downtown Center-1 (DC-1) which allows for a base Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of 3.0 and a maximum FAR of 7.0 under the streamlined approval process when incorporating density bonuses. The development is seeking streamlined approval and will reach a height of 235 feet with a FAR of 7.0.

To achieve a FAR of 7.0 the developers are seeking a 4.0 FAR density bonus by contributing to the city’s Housing Capital Improvements Projects (HCIP) trust fund to aid in the city’s workforce housing efforts, purchasing transfer of development rights (TDRs) from a locally designated landmark or landmark site with available TDRs, and contributing to the city’s streetscaping fund.

Hollywood, Florida-based ODP Architects, which has offices in Tampa and Fort Lauderdale, is listed as the project’s architect. St. Petersburg-based Booth Design Group is listed as the development’s landscape architect.

A construction timeline for the project has not been announced.