In 2019, the owner of the Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront sold the hotel's 1.65-acre surface parking lot to Kolter for $17.5 million. Kolter built Saltaire on that lot. As part of the project it built a 205-space garage, and in 2022 it sold those spaces back to the hotel for $4 million. Then Kolter agreed to buy the hotel as well, for $96 million, under a purchase agreement dated December 12, 2025, according to St Pete Rising's report on the sale.
On October 12, St Pete Rising reported the next step. Kolter Urban has circulated a site plan application for two 44-story condominium towers at 333 1st Street South. The towers would rise up to 509 feet and hold 325 condos, with a 519-space garage. The plan would also make 207 spaces in the adjacent Saltaire garage available to the new residents.
If you're comparing downtown condos, this sequence matters. In this market the view, the light and even the parking attached to a unit come out of a chain of land deals and zoning bonuses on neighboring parcels. Those parcels are often controlled by the same few developers who built the towers you're touring.
One block, assembled in stages
The Hilton site shows the sequence clearly.
| Year | What happened at 333 1st Street South |
|---|---|
| 1972 | The 15-story Hilton is built. It was renovated in 2014 and has 333 rooms. |
| 2019 | Ashford Hospitality Trust sells the hotel's surface parking lot to Kolter for $17.5 million |
| 2022 | Kolter sells the 205 garage spaces it built for Saltaire to the hotel for $4 million |
| 2023 | Saltaire, 35 stories and 192 condos, is completed on the former parking lot |
| Dec. 2025 | Kolter signs a $96 million agreement to buy the hotel |
| Oct. 2026 | Kolter circulates plans for twin 44-story towers on the hotel site |
The plan lists 1.32 million square feet of building area on a 3.01-acre site. The existing hotel has about 344,000 square feet. Kolter has not announced a project name, unit pricing, a construction timeline or a closing date for the hotel.
The pattern goes beyond one block. Kolter completed ONE St. Petersburg in 2019 with 253 condos, Saltaire in 2023 with 192, and Art House earlier this year with 244. It also has approval for a 62-unit tower at the former Fit2Run site on 2nd Street North. Add the 325 proposed for the Hilton site and one developer's downtown portfolio passes 1,000 condominiums across five sites. A Saltaire buyer bought into a building whose neighbor was always likely to change. That neighbor is now owned by the company that built Saltaire.
How a 3.0 site gets to 7.0
The Hilton parcel is zoned Downtown Center-1, or DC-1. That district has a base floor area ratio of 3.0, which means a building's counted floor area can equal three times the land area. Projects can go past 7.0 with public approval and the bonuses that apply. Kolter is asking for 7.0.
St. Petersburg's downtown code sets three approval paths:
- Base approval is allowed by right, with no public notice or hearing, if the project meets the standards for height, setbacks, open space and design.
- Streamline bonus approval allows more floor area or height when a project includes set bonus provisions, such as historic preservation or workforce housing.
- Public-hearing bonus approval covers projects that go beyond the streamline limits. It requires additional bonuses and a public hearing.
A 2023 city staff report shows how the bonuses add up. A 28-story, 327-unit tower proposed at 234 3rd Avenue North, also zoned DC-1, asked for 4.0 bonus FAR on top of the 3.0 base. The 4.0 came from three pieces. The first 0.5 came from buying development rights from a locally designated landmark. The next 1.0 came from paying into the city's Housing Capital Improvements Program trust fund. The final 2.5 came from any mix of workforce housing, historic transfers, LEED certification or streetscape improvements. Construction for that project was estimated at about $120 million, so the trust-fund bonus required at least $1.2 million. That bought a full point of FAR for about 1% of construction cost.
That same report also explains why the 7.0 headline understates how big these buildings get. The 234 3rd Avenue North project measured 510,502 square feet, or 12.4 FAR, before exemptions, and 288,680 square feet, or 7.0, after them. The Hilton plan's 1.32 million square feet on 3.01 acres works out to roughly 10 times the land area, against a requested 7.0. The physical size of a downtown tower follows its gross square footage, which can run well above its counted FAR.
Neighbors get a hearing
The code calls the bonuses a way to provide public benefit and mitigate the secondary effects of development. In practice, a project that goes beyond the streamline limits gets a public hearing before the Development Review Commission. The 3rd Avenue North tower went on the commission's June 12, 2023 agenda for a public hearing and executive action. The staff report recorded eight letters from Huntington Townhomes residents opposing it over height and traffic.
The Hilton plan is at an earlier stage. Kolter has circulated it to neighborhood and business associations, and no review path or hearing date has been reported. If you're buying near that block, you're buying while that review is still ahead.
The towers already lined up
The Hilton plan joins a pipeline that already covers several downtown blocks. Here is each project's most recent reported status.
| Project | Address | Size | Last reported status |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Residences at 400 Central | 400 Central Ave. | 46 stories, 301 units | Partial temporary certificate of occupancy for floors 1–25; about 250 units under contract; $1M to $5M |
| Art House | 1st Ave. S. | 42 stories, 244 units | First closings under partial TCO; more than 85% sold; remaining units $1.3M to over $7M |
| Waldorf Astoria Residences | 150 2nd Ave. S. | 50 stories, 539 ft, 163 units | More than $200M in sales; from $2.9M; completion forecast for 2030 |
| Roche Bobois tower | 344 4th St. S. | 29 stories, 375 ft, 164 units | Approved 2025; more than 40 units under contract; from about $550,000; completion projected for 2028 |
| Kolter, former Fit2Run site | 232 and 256 2nd St. N. | 21 stories, 62 units | Approved; no name or timeline |
| Kolter, Hilton site | 333 1st St. S. | Two 44-story towers, 325 units | Application circulated |
| Stock Development | 490 1st Ave. S. | Not yet filed | Interior demolition of the former Tampa Bay Times building |
Groundbreaking dates for the Waldorf Astoria Residences and the Roche Bobois tower were forecasts when they were announced. Treat them as targets until crews are on site.
The Times building site deserves attention if you're shopping a few blocks west of the bay. The city issued a partial demolition permit on September 18. Stock Development paid $18 million for the property and plans a high-rise condominium tower, but it has not submitted redevelopment plans. That means the height and unit count are still open. St Pete Rising reports that Stock also bought the historic Tramor building next door, which cannot be demolished and is being considered for incorporation into the project.
What the county numbers can and can't tell you
Pinellas REALTOR Organization's August 2026 report puts the countywide median townhouse and condo sale price at $275,000, up 5.8% from August 2025. Months of supply fell to 6.4 from 8.0. The median time to contract was 74 days, and sellers received a median 91.7% of their original list price. The September report was scheduled for release October 16.
Those figures describe a countywide market whose median is a fraction of the starting price at most of the towers in the table above. They show the condo market getting tighter overall, but they say little about a 30th-floor unit facing the bay. In that part of the market, the comparison set includes the pre-construction units being sold a few blocks away, and the biggest risk to value is what gets approved on the next parcel.
Questions to ask about the parcel next door
Before you write an offer on a downtown tower unit, find out about the land that shapes the unit's view and parking, along with the building itself.
- Who owns the adjacent parcels, and what are they zoned? A surface lot, a low-rise hotel or an older office building in DC-1 carries a base 3.0 FAR and room to grow through bonuses.
- Has the owner circulated or filed a site plan? Applications often reach neighborhood and business associations before they make the news.
- Which direction does the unit face, and what sits in that direction? A unit facing the Hilton site and a unit facing the water side of the same building are exposed to different futures.
- How does the parking work? Saltaire's garage has already changed hands in part once and is proposed to serve the next towers. Read the condominium documents to see what a deeded or assigned space actually includes.
- Where does an older building stand on Florida's condo safety requirements? Ask the association for its most recent milestone inspection and structural integrity reserve study. The Florida condominium statute sets out which associations these requirements apply to and when they are due.
This is general information, not legal or financial advice. Confirm how a particular building's documents and obligations apply to you with a Florida real estate attorney or another qualified professional.
Quick answers
Is the Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront closing? No closing date has been announced. When Kolter's purchase was first reported, the hotel was expected to keep operating as a hotel and conference venue for now.
Would the new towers be the tallest in the city? No. At up to 509 feet, they would tie for third, behind the 539-foot Waldorf Astoria Residences and the 515-foot Residences at 400 Central. They would rise above Art House, ONE St. Petersburg and the 408-foot Saltaire.
Does every downtown tower get a public hearing? No. A project that meets the base standards is approved by right without a hearing. A hearing comes with bonus requests that go beyond the streamline limits.
If you're weighing a resale unit in an established tower against a pre-construction contract a few blocks away, Plotkin Homes can help you look at who controls the surrounding parcels and what they're zoned for before you commit. Our builder-side work means we read site plans as closely as listing sheets.
