A developer has canceled plans to build a luxury retirement tower near the St. Petersburg waterfront.

The 270-unit Harborside complex at Fourth Street and Third Avenue proved impossible to finance during the credit crisis, a representative of developer Praxeis said Monday.

"It wasn't the sales, it's just the lending," said marketer Heather Umber, who added that the $250 million project had attracted 78 depositors since its launch in September.

Praxeis has surrendered its option on the site near the University of South Florida St. Petersburg and seeks another downtown lot to build a "health pavilion" that would have adjoined the tower.

The pavilion will house 120 private residences: 60 for assisted living patients, 45 for dementia sufferers and 15 for skilled nursing home patients. It's set to open in 2011 or 2012.

As for the tower, Praxeis won't make a move until the economy recovers. The project was unique because residents would have had access to the university.