Seven-story 267-unit apartment building proposed for 17th Street in Grand Central District
The proposed seven-story development would feature 267 units and 18,000 square feet of ground floor retail in the Grand Central District
A seven-story mixed-use development has been proposed for the 1700 block of Central Avenue in the Grand Central District of downtown St. Pete.
The block is currently home to a collection of small residential and commercial buildings occupied by various local businesses such as The Burg Bar and Grill, Lolita’s Wine Market, Dirty Laundry, Avid Brew Company, Fraze Design, FRSTeam by Rogers, and Hamm Signs.
The property also contains seven murals that have been painted over the years during St. Petersburg’s annual SHINE Mural Festival by artists from across the globe such as Jose Mertz, Dasic Fernandez, Michael Reeder, Taj Tenfold, Jujmo, Daniel Mrgan, and Sentrock.
Dallas-based Trammell Crow Residential, a subsidiary of Crow Holdings, is currently under contract to purchase the entire 2.02-acre block and has submitted an application to the City of St. Pete for site plan approval to construct a 267-unit apartment building with ground-floor retail. The proposed project would also include 475 vehicular parking spaces and 267 long term bike spaces.
The 1700 block of Central Avenue is currently home to a collection of small residential and commercial buildings occupied by various local businesses.
“This project has been in the works for 18 months and has been put together with careful consideration to the existing businesses, property owners, and the community,” says Melissa Rutland, a fourth-generation St. Pete resident and real estate broker who put the sale together and advised on the project.
Each of the existing property owners were offered the option for a condominium retail unit in the building to replace their existing space and the developer does not plan to own the retail units in the building.
As a result, local owners will control all of the retail space.
While buildings on the site are permitted up to 125 feet, the project will only reach a height of 84 feet.
The $105 million project, named Alexan 1700, would be part of Trammell Crow’s brand of luxury apartment communities.
Alexan 1700 would offer studio, 1-, and 2-bedroom units. A pool courtyard would be situated on the east side of the building fronting 17th Street.
The building would feature 13,467 square feet of commercial space on Central Avenue and a leasing office and residential lobby on the corner of 17th Street and Central Avenue.
An additional 4,000 square feet of retail, bike parking, and residential units would front 1st Avenue South.
Alexan 1700 has been proposed for the 1700 block of Central Avenue, bound by 17th street, 18th Street, Central Avenue, and 1st Avenue South.
The proposed development has a gross floor area of 340,147 square feet, which translates to a floor area ratio (FAR) of 3.86. The DC-2 zoning district, for which this project is in, allows for a base FAR of 3.0. The project would achieve the additional .86 in FAR by paying into the City’s housing capital improvements program fund.
The project’s architecture utilizes an urban and modern architectural style. According to the submitted application, “The overall design goal of the building is to provide a sophisticated and elevated addition to the area, accentuated with distinctive architectural features, that enhances the interaction at the pedestrian level.”
In addition to Trammell Crow Residential as the developer, the development team includes Kimley Horn and Dwell Design Studio.
Alexan 1700 would be the first community for Trammell Crow in St. Petersburg, but not the first in Tampa Bay. Three months ago, Trammell Crow opened an office in Tampa to focus on bringing more ground-up residential developments to Central Florida.
The first floor site plan for Alexan 1700 features around 18,000 square feet of commercial space, a leasing office and residential lobby, a pool deck fronting 17th Street, bike parking, and residential units.
Last year, TCR developed five communities in Central and South Florida, totaling 1,444 apartments, and the company has identified a pipeline of 11 other communities in Central and South Florida that would bring 3,747 more apartments to market.
The group recently broke ground on Alexan Grove in Tampa, a 300-unit garden development within The Grove, a 472,000-square-foot retail center.
Alexan 1700 still has significant hurdles to overcome before becoming a reality. Namely, the developer would have to close on the property, either honor the terms of the existing leases or buy out the tenants, and receive approval from the City.
If an appeal of the submitted site plan review application is not filed by Tuesday, September 13th at 5:00 pm, the project will be administratively approved.
If approved, Alexan 1700 would join a slew of other developments that have recently completed or are in development for the neighborhood. Arte, 1701 Central, and Vantage contributed 700 new apartments to the area when they opened in 2020. A Tru by Hilton hotel with 132 rooms was also completed in 2020.
Four additional apartment community have been proposed in close proximity, including the 246-unit Sky St Pete, a 244-unit project by HP Capital Group, the 383-unit Modera St. Petersburg, and the 204-unit Trails Edge Apartments.
No construction timeline for Alexan 1700 has been announced.