Tall buildings continue to rise downtown. Another one was announced last week on the Tropicana block between Central and First Avenue N. If built as planned, it would be downtown's tallest building. The building boom started in the late 1990s, and already six luxury towers are complete. More projects are on the drawing board, and at least two big projects are well into construction. Here's a look at downtown's silhouette with new buildings, those under construction and some existing structures.
BAYVIEW TOWER, 100 First Ave. S. Status: planning stages. Preliminary plans call for an L-shaped building with the tower rising out of the intersection of the L. The tower will be the equivalent of 30 stories but probably will have fewer floors because some will feature tall lofts. The preliminary number of units is 103 but probably will be more. No sales prices for the units are available. Construction is not expected to begin until early 2006. Developer: Gulf Atlantic Real Estate Cos. of Tampa.
McNULTY LOFTS, above the McNulty Garage at 101 Second St. S. Status: under construction. Five stories of lofts are being built above the garage. The project will have 85 units. Sales prices ranged from $200,000 to $600,000, and the project is sold out with some resales taking place. The lofts will be finished in September. Developer: Echelon Real Estate Services, St. Petersburg.
BAYFRONT TOWER, 1 Beach Drive SE. Status: completed in 1975. This was St. Petersburg's first condominium high rise. It has 29 stories and 260 units, the bulk of which are residential condominiums.
BANK OF AMERICA BUILDING, 1 Progress Plaza. Status: completed in 1990. This is St. Petersburg's tallest building, has 27 floors and is an office tower with commercial and retail services on the ground floor.
TROPICANA BLOCK, between Central and First avenues N and First and Second streets. Status: planning stages. If completed as designed, this would become St. Petersburg's tallest building. It is a twin-tower project with the tallest tower reaching up 42 stories. Preliminary plans call for 200 to 250 condominiums and a hotel with 150 to 250 rooms. Also planned are retail, commercial and office spaces. Prices on the condominium units could range from $325,000 to at least $500,000. This project was submitted to the city last week and is only in the earliest stages. Developers: Jimmy Aviram of St. Petersburg and Tibor Hollo of Miami.
FLORENCIA, 100 Beach Drive NE. Status: completed in 2000. This luxury condominium tower has 21 floors and 50 units. Prices ranged from $375,000 to $1.75-million. It has retail space and commercial space on the ground floor. Developer: JMC Communities of St. Petersburg.
CLOISTERS, 288 Beach Drive NE. Status: completed in 1999. This was the first of the new wave of luxury condominium towers that helped spark downtown's redevelopment. It has 32 units in 14 stories. Initial prices ranged from $340,000 to $1.5-million. Developer: A partnership of four local men, including former Mayor Randy Wedding. Retail is on the ground level.
PARKSHORE PLAZA, Beach Drive NE and Third Avenue N. Status: under construction. This high-rise luxury project has 118 units in 29 stories. Prices ranged from $268,000 to $3.5-million. The tower is expected to be finished in February 2006. More than 90 percent of the units are sold. Developer: Opus South Corp. in Tampa.
OPUS 400, 400 block of Beach Drive NE. Status: planned. This will be built by Opus South Corp. when Parkshore Plaza is completed. Preliminary plans call for a 27- to 30-story tower with approximately 145 units. It will include condominiums, townhouses and retail space. No prices have been set.
VINOY PLACE, 555 Fifth Ave. NE. Status: completed in 2003, although residents began moving in in 2001 as the first two towers were completed. This project consists of four condominium towers with 92 units and 10 city homes that sit in front of the towers. Initial prices ranged from $500,000 to $2.2-million. Developer: Vinoy Place Development Group.
