Sales to start for condos near Dalí Museum
By Susan Taylor Martin
Tampa Bay Times
Published: Oct 9, 2014

ST. PETERSBURG - Preconstruction sales are due to start next week for downtown St. Petersburg's newest condo project, the 13-story Salvador, a block from the Dalí Museum.

The 74-unit project reflects continuing developer interest in the area south of Central Avenue near the museum, two major hospitals and the University of South Florida St. Petersburg.

"It's right in the mix of everything,'' David B. Moyer of Smith & Associates, the exclusive listing agent, said Thursday.

The Salvador will have one- and two-bedroom units ranging from 864 square feet to 1,810 square feet as well as a pair of three-bedroom penthouses of more than 2,500 square feet. Prices will start at $315,000, with most in the $450,000 to $800,000 range.

All units will come with Bosch stainless steel appliances, wine coolers, gas cooktops, European-style cabinets and wide plank porcelain flooring. The energy-efficient "green'' building is aimed at buyers who want to be downtown without the sky-high condo prices north of Central, Moyer said.

"There's a lot of product out there to accommodate the $800,000-and-above Beach Drive condo market,'' he said. "We have all the luxuries, we just don't qualify it as a luxury price tag. We feel that with a $315,000 starting price, it will be much more obtainable to a bigger demographic.''

Entrance to the building at Second Street S and Dalí Boulevard will be via a two-story lobby. The ground floor will also include two retail spaces and a rock and bamboo garden,

A deck on the third floor will have more than 11,000 square feet of community space including a spa and saltwater pool.

The Salvador was designed by Mesh Architecture, headed by Tim Clemmons, and is a project of DDA Development, which also developed Campbell Landings, a 55-and-older apartment complex on Sixth Street S near Bayfront Health St. Petersburg.

Moyer said construction of the Salvador could begin by Feb. 1 if 30 units are sold by then. Completion would be in fall 2016, about the same time that Bliss, an 18-story luxury condo tower on Fourth Avenue N just off Beach Drive, is due to be finished.

With much of the prime downtown land north of Central already taken, developers increasingly have turned to the hospital-university area south of Central. In addition to Campbell Landings, designed as affordable rental housing for seniors, scores of new high-end apartment units aimed at the millennial crowd will become available over the next 18 months

Susan Taylor Martin can be contacted at smartin@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8642. Follow @susanskate