Waldorf Astoria Tower in St. Pete Advances With 430-Space Parking Deal

St. Petersburg City Council is set to consider agreements on Thursday that would provide 430 public parking spaces for office tenants displaced when the City Center garage is demolished to make way for the 50-story Waldorf Astoria Residences, a step that would clear a practical hurdle for the $500 million tower, according to the St Pete Catalyst. Permit applications on file name Juneau Construction Company as general contractor for foundation work.

What Happened

The applicant, City Center STF LP, is seeking parking agreements that would spread displaced office parkers across three city facilities: 250 spaces at the Mahaffey Theater garage, 70 at the Al Lang Stadium lot and 110 at the South Core garage on Central Avenue. The city would collect $38,200 per month at the start, with annual increases. Most spaces would cost $90 a month, 50 upper-level South Core spaces would cost $80, and reserved Al Lang spaces would carry a premium St Pete Catalyst.

The agreements would run three and a half years starting December 1, with two possible six-month extensions. Access would be limited to daytime hours, and the spaces would not be available during designated events such as Rowdies games, the Saturday Morning Market and the Grand Prix. City spokesperson Samantha Bequer said the allocations reflect "current excess capacity" and that no other public monthly parkers are being cancelled or non-renewed to make room St Pete Catalyst.

Permits and Schedule

A demolition application for the City Center parking garage at 150 Second Avenue South was filed June 29. A foundation-work application valued at $12.4 million followed on July 29 and lists Juneau Construction Company as general contractor. Both applications were still under review as of Monday. A representative for developer PMG said there were no new construction updates but that more information is expected soon St Pete Catalyst.

The six-story garage will come down, while the office tower it serves at 100 Second Avenue South will remain St. Pete Rising. In June, the development team said it expected to break ground by the end of 2026, with completion scheduled for 2030 St. Pete Rising.

The Project

The tower is co-developed by Miami-based Property Markets Group (PMG) and St. Petersburg's Feldman Equities, with City Office REIT and Tower Realty Partners as partners. Plans call for 163 condominiums of 2,031 to 3,408 square feet, 73,000 square feet of Class A office space, and a 17-story podium with 11 parking levels. CUBE 3 is the architect and BAMO of San Francisco is the interior designer St. Pete Rising. St. Pete Rising lists the tower at 539 feet, while the St Pete Catalyst has reported a height of about 540 feet; either figure would make it the tallest building in the city St Pete Catalyst.

The project has grown since City Council unanimously approved it in November 2024. Its estimated cost rose from $225 million to about $500 million, and its height from 49 to 50 stories. Hilton will manage the residences St Pete Catalyst.

Sales have been strong. In June 2026 the team reported more than $200 million in sales, about eight months after reaching $100 million, with remaining residences starting at $2.9 million. One of two penthouses sold for $27 million, a Tampa Bay condominium record St. Pete Rising.

Implications for Owners, Developers, Contractors and Subs

• A high-rise start is getting closer. Demolition and foundation permits in review, a named foundation contractor and a parking solution for existing tenants are the kinds of steps that typically come shortly before mobilization on a downtown tower.
• Phased downtown logistics. Demolishing a garage next to an occupied office tower, then building a 50-story structure on a tight urban site, will require careful staging, crane planning and traffic control in the heart of downtown.
• Parking as a deal point. Replacement parking for occupied buildings can become part of the entitlement and construction plan for downtown infill projects. Using excess public garage capacity is one model other owners may follow.
• Deep trade demand. A $500 million luxury tower with office, condo and amenity levels will draw on concrete, curtain wall, MEP, elevator and high-end interior finish trades for several years, adding to an already active St. Petersburg high-rise market that includes Kolter's proposed twin 44-story towers at the Hilton Bayfront site, which WCG covered here.

What to Watch

• City Council's vote on the parking agreements this Thursday.
• Issuance of the demolition and foundation permits.
• An announcement on the general contractor for the full tower.
• Whether the team meets its target of breaking ground by the end of 2026.

Bottom Line

The parking agreements before City Council are a small item with large consequences: if approved, they let the City Center garage come down without stranding office tenants, removing a key obstacle for the Waldorf Astoria Residences. With permits under review and more than $200 million in sales reported, St. Petersburg's tallest planned tower appears to be moving toward construction.

Image credit: Rendering provided by the development team, via St Pete Catalyst. Image from the source article.

Sources

• St Pete Catalyst, "St. Pete's next luxury tower comes with a parking deal": https://stpetecatalyst.com/st-petes-next-luxury-tower-comes-with-a-parking-deal/
• St. Pete Rising, "Waldorf Astoria Residences tops $200 million in sales ahead of groundbreaking": https://stpeterising.com/home/waldorf-astoria-residences-tops-200-million-in-sales-ahead-of-groundbreaking
• St. Pete Rising, "Demolition permit filed for future site of 50-story Waldorf Astoria Residences St. Petersburg": https://stpeterising.com/home/demolition-permit-filed-for-future-site-of-50-story-waldorf-astoria-residences-st-petersburg
• St Pete Catalyst, "Waldorf Astoria St. Pete is now a $500 million project": https://stpetecatalyst.com/waldorf-astoria-st-pete-is-now-a-500-million-project/