This week a crane hoisted a steel beam signed by construction workers to the top of The Residences at 400 Central, the 46-story, 515-foot condominium and office tower under construction in downtown St. Petersburg. It is now the city’s tallest building and the tallest residential building on Florida’s Gulf Coast.
For the traditional “topping out” celebration on Monday, September 16th, a crowd that included St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch, The Residences at Central’s billionaire developer John Catsimatidis Sr. and other dignitaries applauded and cheered as the beam, adorned with a small palm and a large American flag, rose skyward. Some sang “God Bless America.’’
The oval-shaped tower, laid out diagonally on the block between Fourth and Fifth streets with an adjacent parking garage, is expected to be finished next summer. Condos start at $1 million and go up to nearly $10 million for a penthouse.
“A big range of prices with a little something for everyone, which is nice,’’ says Simon Bacon, executive director of development services for Michael Saunders & Co., the firm handling sales.
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Red Apple Real EstateRed Apple Group founder and CEO John Catsimatidis Sr. and his family take in the view from a balcony at The Residences at 400 Central.Catsimatidis, an effusive man of 76 in a bright blue sport coat, says that over the years he and his wife, Margo, a St. Petersburg native, frequently traveled from their New York home to visit her parents. But his decision to invest in the city was relatively recent.
“I wanted something that was beautiful and something we’re going to remember,’’ he says.
The founder and CEO of Red Apple Group
praised St. Petersburg as a place where people feel safe walking around downtown at night.
“You can’t walk around at night anymore in New York,” he says.
Red Apple and Suffolk Construction executives, sales staff, marketing specialists, news reporters and photographers gathered at the sales office and were escorted across the street to the work site. There, they boarded a construction elevator attached to the side of the building for a ride up to the 38th floor. Those nearest the outside see-through steel door got a dizzying look at the city receding below. The view from the unit under construction is spectacular, with the Gulf in the distance and the bay and Albert Whitted Airport below.
The building, designed by Arquitectonica, will have 301 luxury condominiums with 60,000 square feet of ground floor space for restaurants and shops. It will also offer 45,000 square feet of office space. Condo owners gathering in the glass-enclosed Sky Lounge Observatory on the 46th floor will have a panoramic view from the highest point in St. Petersburg. Sales are brisk, according to the company. Catsimatidis told the crowd that he had reserved his condo in the building.
Patrick Dwyer, a project manager for Red Apple, showed the visitors a 38th-floor unit with three bedrooms, three bathrooms and sliding glass doors that lead to a wall-to-wall balcony.
“You have a massive balcony,’’ he says. “This specific unit, you can see the sunrise
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Philip MorganThe view looking west from a 38th-floor balcony at The Residences at 400 Central. and later in the day, you can actually see the sunset from here as well. So you can see everything from this unit.’’
After Mayor Welch, former mayors Rick Kriseman and Rick Baker and other dignitaries signed the beam, it was raised from the seventh-floor amenity deck.
“I think it’s a great symbol for the progress the city is making and I think it tracks with St. Pete’s evolution into one of the most vibrant cities in the Southeast,’’ Welch says. “And it’s the first of many to come.’’
On a hot late-summer day, Welch was mopping his brow with a handkerchief. Like the others, he rode up to the 38th floor in a construction elevator.
“That was a very interesting ride," he says, smiling. "I’m not sure I want to do that every day, on the freight car on the side of the building."
Kriseman, who served as mayor from 2014 to 2022, met with Catsimatidis when the developer was looking for a parcel to build on.
“He wanted to build something that people would go, ‘Wow!’ I think he’s done that,’’ he says.
“The views are just spectacular,” Kriseman adds. “To be able to see the entire city from up here, and the beauty of this city, it’s really wonderful. And what I love about this building is the architecture of it is so different from anything else in downtown. And really, if you’re going to have a world class city, you’ve got to have diverse architecture.’’
On a day to celebrate the builders, hundreds of construction workers gathered at tables set up in the parking garage for a barbecue lunch while DJ Fresh played music. Portable air conditioners were set up at various spots.
Speaking with a reporter earlier, John Catsimatidis Jr., president and COO of Red Apple Group, called 400 Central “a beautiful milestone on the road to success.’’ He says the company is looking for its next site in St. Petersburg.
“Real estate is an incredible industry,’’ he says. “You want to build something that is contextual with the city and that is going to fit in and yet usher in progress and the future, and I think we’ve done a great job of that here. And so to see something that comes out of the ground and gets to this point – we’ll be delivering at the end of the summer next year – it’s a wonderful thing.’’
Taking the microphone at the beam-raising celebration, Catsimatidis Sr. called the structure “the Empire State Building of St. Pete.’’ The crowd laughed and applauded. He says he wanted to build something in honor of Margo’s parents.
“We’re going to put up a statue (of them) because they’ve been trying to get me to invest in St. Pete for 40 years,’’ he says. “I did and I’m glad I did. My only regret? I didn’t invest sooner.’’
For more information, go to The Residences at 400 Central