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Changing downtown's face?: 200-unit towers 'a go'
By SHARON L. BOND, Neighborhood Times Business Editor ST. PETERSBURG -- One of the biggest condominium projects in city history -- $97-million and 200 units in tall twin towers -- seems a lot more real this morning. With a succession of three unanimous votes, the City Council signed off on the Villas at St. Petersburg, planned for the 400 block of Beach Drive. And the man who owns the land -- retired plastic surgeon John M. Hamilton -- says the developer's financing is all set, provided by a pension fund that was looking for real estate investments. Construction could begin as early as August. "It's a go," said Hamilton, who over a 40-year period bought all the property in the block with an eye toward such a project someday. The project marries old St. Petersburg, in the person of Hamilton, who will retain ownership of the land, with a newcomer, developer Paul Morris of Morris Development Group, who moved here last year from California. Hamilton has signed a 99-year lease for the block with Morris. Hamilton would not divulge the exact amount but said he receives two six-figure payments per year. "It's been a 40-year dream," Hamilton said after the meeting. "I'm the happiest guy in St. Petersburg, maybe the west coast of Florida." At $97-million, the Villas will be among the most expensive projects in the city as well as among the tallest. The development would have 20 stories on top of a three-story base, reaching 328 feet into the air. That is a bit shorter than the city's tallest building, the Bank of America tower, and within a few feet of the Bayfront Tower's height. The Villas would have approximately 200 condos plus retail shops, restaurants, a health club, office space, banquet facilities and a 540-space parking garage. The project would have as many units as all three recent major downtown condo projects combined: the Cloisters, the Florencia and Vinoy Place. The next step for the project is for the developer to submit detailed construction plans to get city building permits. Hamilton's connection to the project gave it a cachet it might otherwise have lacked, as evidenced by the number of longtime residents who spoke in favor of the project and lauded the Hamilton family for choosing an appropriate project for the land. W. Gray Dunlap Sr., retired attorney and investment banker whose family came to the city around 1912, got council member Bill Foster's attention with a bit of history. Foster expressed some doubts about the project before casting his votes for it. "Mr. Foster's maternal grandfather sponsored me in the Soap Box Derby," said Dunlap. "The city has dealt with downtown developers for many years, some good, some not so good." Dunlap said he believed this was the right time for this project. "I moved downtown in 1979," said Joan Appleyard Tucker. "Anyone who is a plastic surgeon and who has made so many women beautiful in St. Petersburg certainly is going to have a most beautiful building." Mayor Rick Baker said the Villas will add to the tax rolls the equivalent of what the Renaissance Vinoy Resort did 10 years ago. "I'm impressed that this came unanimous from the Environmental Development Commission (its first airing)," Baker said. "I think what the developers have done ... will add to the beauty of the city." Morris will not say who is financing the project and would not reveal his timetable. Baker said it is an ambitious project. "There is no downside to the city continuing to support it through the process," the mayor said. "If it were to come out of the ground, it would be fabulous for the city. The office Hamilton built in 1960, where his medical practice was and his family's property management offices remain, is among the buildings in the block that will be torn down to make way for the project. Hamilton closed his practice last October, and many of the retailers in the 400 block left after plans for the Villas were announced earlier last year. However, when plans stalled after Sept. 11, the Hamiltons advertised the space at below-market rates for month-to-month leases and got a few new tenants. "I think they'll probably break ground in August. It's now scheduled for August, maybe a little sooner," said Hamilton, adding that he expected demolition to be done three to four weeks before August. Tenants probably will stay until July, he said. The City Council gave final approval to the Villas Thursday by agreeing to vacate an alley that runs through the property and 17 feet of Bay Street NE, which is behind the Villas site, to accommodate the project. Then, sitting as the Community Redevelopment Agency, it gave general approval to the project. The votes were unanimous. Foster said he wished he could share everyone's optimism about the Villas. He said it was a beautiful project, but he worries about the waterfront. "When it comes to developing the waterfront area, I worry about the traffic, the potable water, the encroachment. I'm always concerned about vacating public property." "This is really about people," said council member John Bryan. "This is an opportunity for people to share the waterfront." Only a few residents spoke against the project. Most were in favor. Opposition included concern about the entrance to the parking garage of the Villas being on Bay Street and thus in front of Presbyterian Towers. The height of towers brought one objection, although the height was not supposed to be the subject of public comment during the hearings on the vacation of the alley and part of Bay Street. After the meeting, Hamilton said two other developers wanted to build on the block, but their projects would have had the effect of walling off the rest of downtown from the property and the waterfront. Three high-rise luxury condominium projects have played a large part in rejuvenating downtown in the past few years. Two are on Beach Drive, and when plans for the second were announced, concern arose about walling off the waterfront. Development officials now require high rises to terrace back. They paid particular attention to the openness of the Villas' three-story base, which is supposed to be a public area easily accessible to pedestrians. The residential towers are to either side of the base and angled to preserve as much of the view of Presbyterian Towers as possible.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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