The first new mixed-used retail and residential project for St. Petersburg’s Skyway Marina District will break ground in the next six to nine months.
Phillips Development and Realty, a Tampa-based firm, closed on the $70 million proposed development this month. Plans call for the developer to build a 300-unit multi-family apartment complex, along with retail shops and restaurants.
"The Skyway Marina District is a stone's throw from Gulf beaches and downtown St. Pete -- two areas that so many love to experience,” says Donald Phillips, managing director of Phillips Development and Realty. “The project will allow people to live where they play and be able to afford it all."
The nine-acre site at 34
th Street South and 30
th Avenue South, is across the street from
Ceridian, a global human resource management company. The land was previously owned by The Home Depot, but has sat vacant for a number of years. Phillips purchased the land from The Home Depot for $4.2 million, according to company spokesperson Parker Homans.
More than 13,000-square-feet of retail and residential are proposed, along with 100,000-square-feet of climate controlled storage space. The company is currently in negations with several local and regional businesses, says Homans.
In a press release announcing the project, Phillips says the Skyway Marina District is “screaming for retail, luxury living and involvement from the St. Petersburg art scene.”
In recognition of St. Petersburg’s vibrant collection of more than 30 urban mural arts, the company is planning to create its own mural, which will be located at the entry to the Skyway Marina District.
Also planned is an entertainment area with a lazy river, sand volleyball court and beach-style dining. The lazy river will be open to restaurant patrons and apartment residents and their guests.
“We envision people dining outside and taking a spin on the river,” says Homans. “We want people to feel like they are on vacation when visiting the property.”
St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman calls the Skyway Marina District, “the Southern Gateway to St. Petersburg and Pinellas County.”
The city adopted a Skyway Marina District Plan in 2015, with the goal of adding affordable housing and retail to the site, which is considered to have prime redevelopment opportunity.
Both the mayor and city council members have voiced strong support for the new Phillip’s mixed-use development, saying it “compliments the city’s vision” for the Skyway Marina District.
The city had already committed to $1.6 million for public improvements to the district for signage, landscaping, pedestrian lighting, banners and bus shelters. Now, in recognition of Phillip’s project as the first major new development in the area, the city is planning another $1 million in improvements to the site adjacent to the new complex, including a proposed extension of the Skyway Trail, a pedestrian and bike linear greenway trail that connects with Maximo Park and the Pinellas Trail.
This is the company’s first venture in St. Petersburg, although the firm has extensive residential and commercial projects in North Carolina and completed Visconti at International Plaza, an upscale apartment complex in Tampa’s Westshore District, several years ago.
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