South Florida developers drive Tampa-area building boom

South Florida-based apartment and condo developers have emerged as the biggest players in a high-rise residential building boom in the Tampa Bay area.

The Tampa Bay Times reported that South Florida companies are behind 15 multifamily housing developments planned or under way in Tampa and St. Petersburg.

If the developers complete all 15 projects, they will spend more than $1 billion to deliver 5,000 new apartments and condos, the newspaper reported.

Miami-based Related Group has four rental apartment developments under way in Tampa and one in St. Petersburg. One of the Related developments in Tampa is under construction, a 21-story, 340 -unit apartment building called The Manor at Harbour Island.

Four of the five Related rental developments in Tampa Bay are in the planning stage. These include the planned construction of 354 rental apartments at 801 Central Avenue in St. Petersburg and 400 apartments at 402 Knights Run Avenue, the former riverfront location of the Tampa Tribune newspaper.

Albert Milo, a vice president of Related, told the Tampa Bay Times that land prices make development in South Florida more challenging than in the Tampa area: “The prices in South Florida, specifically Miami-Dade County, are very high, and there is a high demand for land, so it’s a little more difficult to make the economics work locally.”

 Coral Gables-based Allen Morris Residential and Miami-based American Land Ventures both completed construction of new rental properties in St. Petersburg in 2016. Allen Morris finished a 348-unit apartment complex called Hermitage at 700 1 Avenue South.

American Land Ventures last year completed construction of an 18-story, 358-unit apartment building at 330 3 Street South in St. Petersburg called AER St. Petersburg.

American Land Ventures also is planning to build a 21-story, 201-unit apartment building at 211 3 Street South in St. Petersburg and a 37-story, 400-unit apartment building near the Straz Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa.

In 2015, West Palm Beach-based Kolter Group completed Water Club, a 9-story development of condos and townhomes at 1325 Snell Isle Boulevard in St. Petersburg.

Kolter last year started construction of ONE St. Petersburg, a 41-story mixed-use development with 253 condo units and 174 hotel rooms. The high-rise is going up at the intersection of 1 Street North and Central Avenue.

Other South Florida developers planning or building rental developments in the Tampa Bay area include Altis Cardinal of Coral Gables, Bainbridge Companies of Wellington and Green Mills of Fort Lauderdale. [Tampa Bay Times] – Mike Seemuth