Developers reveal some details on long-awaited $80M mixed-used project

ST. PETERSBURG — Details have been released on the residential component of the long-anticipated 16-story Orange Station mixed-use development to be built on the site of St. Petersburg’s former police headquarters in the city’s Edge District.

The Residence at Orange Station will feature 61 condominium units ranging from 1,210 square feet to 2,367 square feet with floor-to-ceiling windows, luxury appliances and plumbing features and a secure lobby with concierge service. Residents will have access to a ground-floor courtyard with a plunge pool, fire table and seating. And on the sixth floor, there will be workstations, a fully equipped fitness center and wellness studio and entertainment spaces including a terrace with al fresco kitchen.

Prices will start at about $600,000

Along with the condominium units, the development at 1300 First Ave. North will also include 50,000 square feet of office space, 14,000 square feet of retail, a 600-space parking garage and 42 apartments.

Developers, in a press release introducing the residences, say the building is the “first LEED-certified green condominium in St. Petersburg, with a whole-building water softener system, electric vehicle charging capability for each owner and generous community bicycle storage.”

The building will border a public plaza with an art installation honoring the “Courageous 12” police officers whose efforts led to the integration of the St. Petersburg Police Department on Aug. 1, 1968.

Construction on the $80 million project is expected to begin in the fall and, according to previous estimates, the project should be complete by the summer of 2024. Sales are expected to begin in the spring.

The plan for Orange Station has been in the works for some time and, as often happens, has evolved over the years.

In August, the Business Observer reported on changes that were made due to the pandemic. The biggest was cutting the amount of planned office space by half to 50,000-square feet. This led to the project being transformed into a single-building development as opposed to the original design which called for a nine-story office building and an eight-story building.

Orange Station is being built on the site of the city’s former police headquarter building. Demolition of old police station began in October, about a year-and-a-half after the department’s new headquarters across the street opened in March 2019.

As for the name Orange Station, it comes from the Orange Belt Railway depot that brought St. Petersburg’s first settlers to the city in the late 1880s.