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Regional

Downtown is going up

By JANET ZINK
Published February 9, 2005

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What's that point? Construction crews have started clearing the site for Pinnacle Place in downtown Tampa, a 6-acre residential/retail complex that includes a 624-foot space needle. Prices on the one- to four-bedroom condos range from the mid $300,000s to $2.8 million.

The needle is coming: The observation tower, called the Pinnacle of Tampa Bay, will be the centerpiece of Pinnacle Place, a $500 million project. Standing about 53 stories tall, it will have a restaurant overlooking the city and rooms available for private parties. "We're going to change the skyline forever," said Ken Morin of Morin Development Group, one of the developers behind the project. "It's the type of project that Tampa has never seen before." Construction of the towers and the needle is expected to begin late this year and be done by late 2007, the developers say.

In the market: A sales center for the 340 condos will open at Channelside Drive and Cumberland Avenue in the next two months, real estate agent Toni Everett said.

The extras: The condominium complex will include a swimming pool, fitness center, movie theater, game room and guest suites. Pinnacle Place also includes a hotel, parks, amphitheater and 100,000 square feet of retail space underneath residential lofts.

Why downtown: Frank DeBose, president of Pinnacle Group Holdings and one of the project's developers, has been pushing plans for the needle for more than 10 years. "All that you see happening in downtown is not happening by accident," he said. "All around the state of Florida, you have people moving back into downtowns."

- Janet Zink jzink@tampabay.com

[Last modified February 9, 2005, 10:05:11]

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