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More chic heading for downtown

A $100-million hotel/condo is announced for St. Petersburg, promising luxury for a price.

By SHARON L. BOND
Published May 13, 2005

	[Special to the Times] The new 28-story complex will redefine an entire block of St. Petersburg. GRAPHIC: Building a block buster
	[The Kessler Collection]
	The public area of Grand Bohemian will include a live music in a lounge like one in another Kessler property.
	[Times photo: Michael Rondou]
	The building that is currently the Florida International Museum will be torn down, and the museum will reopen in its new location Oct. 6.

ST. PETERSBURG - It won't be as pricey as Trump Tower, and it won't be the tallest building around. But if hotel developer Richard Kessler follows his recent pattern, the Grand Bohemian Hotel and Residences could be a destination point in the Tampa Bay area.

The proposal for the $100-million hotel complex was unveiled Thursday as part of the planned redevelopment of a downtown block that includes new headquarters for Progress Energy Florida Inc.

"A very modern, chic hotel where art and music are the themes," Kessler said.

The Grand Bohemian will be a 28-story building with 205 hotel rooms and 62 condominiums on the top 12 floors.

"In my definition of luxury, there is no luxury condominium in St. Petersburg," said Kessler, a remark likely to bring disagreement from other developers who have built condo towers downtown in the past few years.

"I am familiar with the projects," said Kessler, whose grand hotel in Orlando is often regarded by travel magazines as one of the best in the world.

The Grand Bohemian will be minimalist in style, with Asian influences. As architect Frank Paredes of Coral Gables, said: "Balconies (will be) dancing up the building."

It will be 350 feet high, 36 feet shorter than the Bank of America tower, the tallest building in St. Petersburg. Construction will start in the first quarter of next year and be finished by late 2007 or early 2008, Kessler said.

On its own, the Grand Bohemian is a sizeable redevelopment announcement. Yet it is just one of several projects that will remake most of a downtown block.

The former Maas Brothers department store, now home to the Florida International Museum, will be torn down next month to make way for the Grand Bohemian and Progress Energy.

St. Petersburg College is constructing a building nearby that will comprise classrooms, offices and space for the museum on its first floor. Classes begin there in August. The museum will close just before demolition and reopen Oct. 6 in its new space.

"I think this is one of the best projects," said Mayor Rick Baker. "We've never had a combination of major corporate headquarters built with a four-star hotel-condominium at the same time."

Further, Baker said, the St. Petersburg College campus and new space for the Florida International Museum bode well for the downtown.

"It will equal the impact of BayWalk," Baker said, referring to the $40-million retail/entertainment/movie complex that opened in 2001. Baywalk has become a destination spot for teens and moviegoers and has strengthened downtown's comeback.

Grand Bohemian will have two-, three- and four-bedroom units. What will make the units luxury homes is the attention to detail, Kessler said, starting with the design and use of high-end appliances and other materials.

Prices for the condominiums will range from $750,000 to $2.5-million. Trump Tower, planned for downtown Tampa, has some units priced at $6-million, and other towers in St. Petersburg have units priced in the millions.

The public area of Grand Bohemian will include a rare Bosendorfer grand piano in the lounge.

It also will have a gallery filled with art that Kessler has collected from around the world. He plans to show the work of local artists, which will be offered for sale. In this way, Kessler said, he hopes to help educate residents and visitors with little schooling in art.

The 28th floor of the hotel will feature a pool, and a ballroom that can accommodate 300 to 400 people will be built under the parking garage connecting the Grand Bohemian to Progress Energy's building.

Progress Energy also unveiled the architectural drawings of its building Thursday.

The 16-story corporate headquarters will consolidate the company's 670 workers from five locations in Pinellas County. It will have retail space on the first floor, six levels of parking and nine levels of office space. Occupancy is expected in November 2006.

Baker said he began working on getting Progress Energy downtown four years ago when he and the utility's president and chief executive Bill Habermeyer met for lunch.

Habermeyer told the mayor that Progress Energy wanted to build a new headquarters. The company dates back to 1898 in St. Petersburg. In the 1970s, however, it moved out of downtown to U.S. 19 S.

"Downtown redevelopment was delayed 30 years," Baker said of the move.

The new headquarters will bring to downtown 300 more workers who have been scattered around Pinellas County.

An additional 250 people will be employed at the hotel, Kessler said.

Kessler said he knew St. Petersburg from vacations here as a child. The Grand Bohemian was his response to the city's request for a proposal for the downtown block.

Two things made him think St. Petersburg would be a good place for his "high-end boutique hotels."

"A strong vibrant community that has pride in itself. St. Petersburg has that," Kessler said. "Leadership. The city and mayor are committed to a vision" of progress for the city.

Kessler said Baker told him he "would do everything" to get a Grand Bohemian hotel in St. Petersburg.

However, Kessler said the incentives he received to come here were "minimal."

[Last modified May 13, 2005, 00:58:07]