Developer changes design of 55-story condo tower in downtown Tampa to appease city
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Sep 13, 2022

Tampa and a South Florida condominium developer have reached a settlement agreement that will allow a 55-story tower to move forward at North Tampa and East Twiggs streets.

Kolter Urban, based in Delray Beach, on Tuesday told the Tampa Bay Business Journal that it has redesigned the eastern and northern facades of the tower “to pay homage to and incorporate the architectural character of the Tarr Furniture Building located at 520 N. Tampa St.” The facades will be a recreation of the 1920s building — currently home to a First Watch restaurant — that stands at that corner.

“We are thrilled to work with the city on a refreshed design for the exterior facade of ONE Tampa,” Brian Van Slyke, regional president at Kolter Urban, said in a statement. “To resolve the ongoing legal conflict with the city between the properties’ zoning and potential historic value, we worked alongside the city to reach a compromise. ONE Tampa will now give a nod to downtown Tampa’s rich history while breaking records as the tallest residential development on Florida’s west coast.”

Adache Group Architects designed the tower, which includes 311 units and a ground-floor restaurant with indoor and outdoor dining. Kolter expects to open a sales center for the tower this fall and break ground in 2023.

“Tampa is a city that embraces the future and honors the past, and that’s exactly what this compromise does,” Mayor Jane Castor said in a statement.

The fracas over the tower cast an anti-development shadow over the city, which has long billed itself as pro-growth and pro-construction. In mid-May, the historic preservation committee voted to halt a demolition permit that Kolter sought to make way for the tower.

Kolter attorney Scott McLaren, a partner at Hill Ward Henderson in Tampa, in June filed a blistering legal petition that accused the city of, among other things, withholding public records related to the project.

In its petition, Kolter wrote that the block where 520 N. Tampa St. is located was designated a “redevelopment block” by the city in 1988 — one year after the city established a historic preservation program that allows any person or entity to apply for the historic designation of any building within city limits.

“Despite the program’s existence for 35 years, neither the city, the HPC, nor anyone else has ever even filed an application to historically designate the 520 building, nor has the building ever been placed on the HPC’s mandatory work plan,” the June filing said. “The 520 building also has never been included in any historic district.”

Under city code, if the building is not on the work plan, “HPC administrator shall immediately advise the city that there are no objections to the application for the demolition permit.”