Virage developers planning 34-story tower in Tampa

Buoyed by its success selling high-end units in its Virage Bayshore condominium building, Ascentia Development Group and Batson-Cook Development Co. have unveiled plans for a new 34-story luxury residential tower in downtown Tampa.

Arris Tampa will contain 80 residences at 507 N. Ashley Dr., together with a ground-floor restaurant, 189 parking spaces and a rooftop residences’ club.

The tower’s units, which are being designed for 1,110 square feet to 3,700 square feet, are expected to sell for $600,000 to over $2 million. Commercial real estate brokerage Smith & Associates Real Estate has been retained to market the property.

Jay Tallman, Ascentia Development’s founder, says nationwide interest in downtown Tampa has risen in recent years as projects like the $3 billion Water Street Tampa, together with political conventions and key sporting events have gelled and drawn widespread attention.

At the same time, urban living has gained renewed interest among many baby boomers and younger residents alike.

Arris Tampa will be developed on a surface parking lot across from Curtis Hixon Park downtown, along the city’s Riverwalk pathway and adjacent to buildings occupied for more than four decades by law firm Stichter, Riedel, Blain & Postler P.A., the seller of the surface lot.

The tower is being designed by architectural firm Rule Joy Tramell + Rubio LLC, which also designed the Carter USA-developed Nine15 apartment complex in downtown Tampa.

The estimated $135 million project follows Atlanta-based Batson-Cook and Ascentia Development’s work on the 71-unit Virage Bayshore, being constructed on a three-acre tract previously home to the Colonnade restaurant.

The 24-story Virage, which broke ground in 2017 with units priced from $1 million to $5 million, has sold all but four of its residences. Construction there is slated to be completed later this year.

Arris will likely face stiff competition, however, from the 53-story Riverwalk Place, a condo tower with more than 200 residences from Two Roads Development of Miami and Tampa-based Feldman Equities LLC, and 815 Water St., which will contain 420 condos. The latter is being developed by Strategic Property Partners, the joint venture between Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik and Microsoft Co-Founder Bill Gates’ Cascade Investment LLC.

In addition to Arris, Ascentia also is planning a luxury condo tower in its hometown of Sarasota adjacent to the Hyatt Regency Hotel downtown.

The 18-story Auteur is being designed for 56 units, with unit prices ranging from $2 million to $5 million. Tallman told the Business Observer last year he hopes to break ground on Auteur later this year and complete the project by 2022.