Plans for the 49-story Waldorf Astoria Residences at 150 2nd Avenue South in downtown St. Petersburg have undergone a major redesign. New plans, which are expected to be submitted to the City of St. Petersburg later this month, reveal that the luxury condominium tower will now be designed by Miami-based firm CUBE 3, replacing the previously planned design by New York’s SLCE Architects.
While the overall concept of the building remains the same, the architectural style has seen significant changes since the initial proposal in August. These plans may continue to evolve as the project moves through the approval process.
Set to be St. Petersburg’s first hotel-branded luxury condominium, the Waldorf Astoria Residences will feature 164 condominium units, available in two-, three-, and four-bedroom layouts. The tower will also include approximately 86,000 square feet of Class A office space and 11,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.
This development is a joint venture between Miami-based Property Markets Group and the owners of the City Center office building, including Feldman Equities, City Office REIT, and Tower Realty Partners. At 540 feet tall, the Waldorf Astoria Residences will become the tallest building in St. Petersburg.
The ground floor will offer retail space along 2nd Avenue South and 2nd Street South, as well as a residential lobby, office lobby, amenities, and a mailroom. Above that, 11 floors of parking will provide 669 spaces, plus 197 long-term and 20 short-term bicycle parking spaces.
Floors 14 through 16 will feature Class A office space with views of Tampa Bay, while the amenity levels on floors 17 and 18 will include a pool deck with a resort-style lap pool running along the building’s perimeter. The residential units will occupy floors 19 through 49, cantilevered over the amenity deck.
New renderings also show two rooftop pools on the upper floors, which will be exclusive to the penthouse units—some of the largest condominiums in the city.
Before construction can begin, the project must receive approval from the St. Petersburg City Council, acting as the Community Redevelopment Agency. The council will need to approve several Floor Area Ratio (FAR) bonuses and grant a height exception for non-residential uses. A public hearing will also be required due to the building’s height.
The property is zoned Downtown Center-1 (DC-1), allowing a base FAR of 3.0 by right. The development is seeking approval for a 6.94 FAR under a unified site plan, which also includes the existing City Center office building. To achieve the proposed density, the developer is requesting a 1.5 FAR bonus for contributing to the city’s workforce housing fund, another 1.5 FAR bonus for achieving LEED Gold certification, and a 1.0 FAR bonus for contributing to streetscape improvements.
The pricing and construction timeline for the Waldorf Astoria Residences St. Petersburg have not yet been announced.
For more information, contact Aaron Hoffman at Compass Real Estate at 813.817.7914.
