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SHARON L. BONDThe two-story downtown motel will take a fall so the 29-story Opus building can rise.
ST. PETERSBURG - Destiny in the form of a 29-story condominium tower is closing in on the little Beach Park Motor Inn, which sits on a prime location near the downtown waterfront.
Developers plan to demolish the 26-room motel at 300 Beach Drive NE in mid November, although no exact closing date has been set.
"That will be the first visible thing you see, demolition of the motel," said Jerry T. Shaw, senior vice president of Opus South Corp., the national company building Parkshore Plaza, a 118-condominium tower that will take the Beach Park site and the parking lot behind it.
"There is a limited amount of asbestos. We have to identify that and remove it" before the two-story motel actually is knocked down. The whole process will take about 30 days, though only a few days will be needed to demolish the motel, Shaw said.
Parkshore Plaza is a mixed-use luxury project. It will have a range of prices on the living quarters, with penthouses going for several million dollars apiece but with townhomes in the $268,000 range. Amenities for residents will include pool, health spa, guest suite and concierge services. On the street level, Parkshore will have retail shops and cafes, which will be open to the public.
It will tower over the motel both in physical height and in what it contributes to the downtown renaissance. Parkshore is a $100-million project; the Beach Park sold in 2000 for $1.2-million.
The motel was built in the mid 1960s in a plain brick style. It fit in with the hodgepodge of shops and offices along Beach Drive.
The Beach Park gives lodgers the basics in rooms with a spectacular view of Tampa Bay for $69 to $89 per night during the season and sometimes as low as $49.95 in the summer. It has had a regular clientele of visitors escaping the North for years. For downtown events such as regattas and during the six weeks of baseball spring training, it is full.
But as downtown St. Petersburg has revived itself - largely with a number of condominiums and other residences on the same block or within sight of the motel - the Beach Park has become a logical development site. Owner Jimmy Aviram, who holds a lot of downtown property, bought the motel in 2000 with the idea of developing the site. Opus bought both the motel site and the land behind it to build Parkshore Plaza.
Shaw said Opus wants to start site preparation in December, and construction in early February. But that depends on how many reservations for the units turn into sales contracts. Shaw would not disclose the number of reservations but said the company was pleased with the response.
Almost all of those who reserved units are from from the area.
"That is the interesting part about this project," Shaw said. "We haven't really advertised. We are relying on local people to kick off the project. We are very pleased with the demand from people who live in the area."
Opus also owns the 400 block of Beach Drive, where another condominium project is planned. That is in the background now.