A lot, say the developers of downtown residences. It has to set a tone, reflect history, mean something special.
By SHARON L. BOND
Published July 13, 2003
The Beacon on 3rd Street.
That used to be Carlton Towers. Not only does the 40-year-old former apartment building have a new life and a makeover in the works, it has a new name.
Parkshore Plaza on Beach Drive.
The name is in place although the building doesn't yet exist. This is the Opus South Corp. project that will be built in the 300 block of Beach Drive.
Marlowe Court.
The eight one-bedroom, loft-style townhomes that will be built on Fourth Avenue S say something literary about the developers.
With all the new construction in south Pinellas County, particularly in St. Petersburg, comes a roster of new names. Some are obvious, such as Vinoy Place for the luxury condominiums next to the historic Renaissance Vinoy Resort Hotel. Others are a reminder of a favorite place visited, a favorite author or a type of atmosphere intended. Still others are the work of a committee.
The Beacon is meant to be a beacon.
"We think the size of the building is kind of significant," said John Marling, one of the new owners of the former Carlton Towers. "As you come off (Interstate) 175, it's got significant stature."
That fits with the atmosphere Marling wants to create in the building at 470 Third St. S, which is being converted to condominiums. He didn't want anything as generic as harbor side but he didn't want anything flashy, either.
"Everybody kind of looked up when Beacon was mentioned," Marling said of the selection process among his colleagues.
Opus has an internal team of about half a dozen people that helped name the project planned for the 300 block of Beach Drive.
"We put together probably a dozen names and went through them at a round table (discussion). It wasn't real scientific," said William R. West, director of architecture at the Opus operation in Tampa.
Among the names considered were Mizner, for the architect Addison Mizner who helped popularize the Spanish style in Florida, and Galleria, often attached to upscale shopping centers. Parkshore won after a couple of weeks' consideration.
"It's across from the park and by the shore," West said of the building site near the downtown waterfront. "The whole group felt it had a sophisticated ring to it," particularly after plaza was attached.
Opus also owns the 400 block of Beach Drive,where it will build another residential tower. The name hasn't been selected. West said they were leaning toward something with 400 in it.
Marlowe Court will be one in a series of small townhouse developments in St. Petersburg by architect Tim Clemmons and his partner Dar Webb.
Clemmons and Webb built Straub Court on the site of the home of William Straub, former owner of the St. Petersburg Times. That name was a given because of the history.
No history that the partners knew of existed for Charles Court at 325 Fourth Ave. S, now under construction. So they named the 19-unit project after the alley behind it. Later, Clemmons found out a project called Hayden Court had been on the site, a name he would have used if he had known about it. When he found out, they were too far along in plans using the Charles Court name.
For three other projects, the pair turned to books.
"Both of us are fans of Raymond Chandler," Clemmons said of him and Webb.
Thus, Marlowe Court, planned for another site on Fourth Avenue S. Its name comes from Chandler's famous private eye, Philip Marlowe. Another small development, also on Fourth Avenue S, will be called Sternwood Row. The Sternwoods were the general and his daughters that Marlowe had to deal with in The Big Sleep. A third lot on Fourth will have a development named after Chandler.
Plans are in the works for eight condominiums on Redington Beach, each priced well over a million dollars. They will be called Vizcaya. It means elevated place and is from a region in Spain that developer Joel Cantor likes. He is managing director of Gulf Atlantic Luxury Communities LLC, which is building the project. Elevated also describes the construction and amenities of the units in Vizcaya.
Developer Robert McGrath is building a luxury condominium complex on Treasure Island called the Vittoria.
"I got that name from a hotel in Italy, near Milan," McGrath said. "I visited there about three years ago. I liked the hotel and I liked the name. It is a Venetian-style hotel," which is the style of the condominium complex at 12200 First St. W.
The Italian doesn't roll easily off some American tongues. Victoria is what some call his complex, McGrath said.
The Cloisters was the first of three luxury condominium complexes built in downtown St. Petersburg. Its name comes from the covered walkway that wraps around the front and north side of the building, according to Jackson H. Bowman III, one of the four developers on the project. Such walkways are found in old monasteries.
"It's a walkway around the edges with arches," Bowman said. "We were looking for a name that had some kind of Southern European feel to it."
Architect C. Randolph Wedding, another of the Cloisters' partners, said he liked the name because of the softening effect the walkway has on the 14-floor building.
"They (tall buildings) kind of lean over on you when you are standing next to them," Wedding said. "I like to put the covered walkway up against them."
Bowman said the developers agreed on Cloisters pretty quickly. A resort hotel by the same name in Georgia didn't like it, however, and threatened to sue. Bowman found 32 other corporate beings in Florida using the name Cloisters, proving it was not exclusive to the hotel. The suit was never filed, he said.
