New details have been revealed for a proposed development that will bring the first five-star hotel-branded luxury condominium tower to downtown St. Pete.

Earlier this month, the owners of the 12-story City Center office building at 100 2nd Avenue South sent a notice to its tenants that they were exploring redevelopment opportunities at the site of the building’s adjacent six-story parking garage, which is located at 150 2nd Avenue South. 

The parking garage currently serves tenants of the City Center building, which is owned through a joint venture by Feldman Equities, City Office REIT, and Tower Realty Partners.

In the notice to City Center tenants, which was first reported by St. Pete Rising, the owners confirmed their intent to redevelop the site, but expressed that the office building would remain fully operational through and after construction.

This morning, sources tell St. Pete Rising that the City Center owners met with the condo association board of the neighboring Saltaire tower on July 9th to discuss their redevelopment plans.

The development team confirmed to the Saltaire condo association board that they have agreed to redevelop the site in partnership with Miami-based Property Markets Group and are planning a 44-story luxury condominium building with 150 residences.

Included in the meeting was Feldman Equities’ Chief Executive Officer Larry Feldman and Vice President of Asset Management Mack Feldman along with Property Markets Group’s Director of Acquisition Jon Glickman.  

While the exact unit count and number of floors may change during the planning process, the condominium building will be branded under the five-star luxury Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts name as the Waldorf Astoria Residences St. Petersburg.

The development will not include a flagged Waldorf Astoria hotel and will be a standalone Waldorf Astoria Residences property.

The first-ever standalone Waldorf Astoria Residences was announced in October 2023 by Miami-based Related Group for Pompano Beach.

The Waldorf Astoria Residences St. Petersburg will be the first hotel-branded luxury condominium building in St. Pete.

Property Markets Group has previous experience developing under the brand and is currently building the 1,049-foot Waldorf Astoria Hotel & Residences in Miami, which is over 90% sold and is set to become the tallest building south of New York City.  

Renderings of the building were not presented in the meeting, but the design is expected to be “high-quality” and an “architecturally significant" building that “will become a signature property in St. Petersburg,” according to a media statement released by the development team.

The ground floor of the condominium building will have over 10,000 square feet of retail space fronting 2nd Avenue South and 2nd Street South along with a residential lobby, which will be situated on the interior of the block facing a landscaped courtyard.

Several floors of parking will be built above the retail space which will serve residents of the new building along with replacing existing parking for the tenants at the City Center office building.

Ingress and egress into the new parking garage will be located off 2nd Avenue South. Existing curb cuts along 2nd Street will be removed.

Above the parking garage will be three floors of Class A office space followed by the condominium residences.

It was explained to the Saltaire condo association board that a permanent legal covenant will be placed on the existing City Center office building to ensure the existing building’s height never increases, which will preserve northeastern views from the Saltaire building.

While the building’s height was not discussed in the meeting, it is expected to be among the tallest buildings in St. Petersburg with a height between 450 and 500 feet.  

ONE St. Petersburg, the city’s current tallest building, has 42 floors with a height of 450 feet. The Residences at 400 Central, which is under construction, will top out at 46-stories and 515 feet, and will become the city’s new tallest building upon completion in 2025.

The development team indicated that they expect to obtain approvals and necessary entitlements by the end of the year and expect to begin construction in the second half of 2025.  

Sales for the condominiums will launch later this year. Pricing for the Waldorf Astoria Residences St. Petersburg was not announced.  

Construction will likely take at least two years putting completion in late 2027 or early 2028. 

Stay tuned to St. Pete Rising for more information as it becomes available.