Hines Taps Into Tampa Bay Market with 308-Unit Apt. Complex

January 17, 2013

International real estate firm Hines has recently started construction on its first St. Petersburg project, the 308-unit Azure Residences multifamily complex. Located within the Carillon Park master-planned community, Azure will include 308 luxury garden-style residences in seven three-story buildings and one four-story building with direct entry and detached parking garages.

By Georgiana Mihaila, Associate Editor

International real estate firm Hines recently started construction on its first St. Petersburg project, the 308-unit Azure Residences multifamily complex.

Located within the Carillon Park master-planned community, Azure will include 308 luxury garden-style residences in seven three-story buildings and one four-story building with direct entry and detached parking garages. Consisting of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments with sizes ranging from 655 to 1,376 square feet, the complex will feature an amenity package including a clubhouse, a resort-style swimming pool, a state-of-the-art fitness center, an Internet café and a sports lounge.

Designed by The Preston Partnership of Atlanta, Azure’s architecture is meant to evoke a coastal style with buildings clad in clapboard siding and incorporating shake accents, wide eaves, metal roof accents and stucco at the buildings’ bases. Upper-level apartments will also benefit from water views of Tampa Bay.

Located in proximity to Roosevelt Boulevard, Ulmerton Road and I-275, Azure Residences will be a drive away from some of the region’s best beaches in St. Petersburg and Clearwater. Furthermore, as part of the Carillon Park community—comprised of more than two million square feet of Class A office space, a Publix grocery-anchored retail center, a four-star hotel and a 60,000-square-foot outpatient clinic—the multifamily community will benefit from the neighboring employers in the area that include Raymond James, Franklin Templeton, Aegon, Fidelity National, General Dynamics, Jabil Circuit and PCSU Financial.

According to an official Hines announcement, the general contractor Urban Oaks Builders expects occupancy of the first units in October 2013, with final completion set for October 2014.

Hines Managing Director and leader of the firm’s Southeast Region multifamily platform Jon Wood said, “Azure is a significant project for us as it will occur on one of the few remaining apartment sites in St. Petersburg and within one of the best locations in the area, Carillon Park. We look forward to growing our multifamily presence in Central Florida.”

Hines is the developer of the 276-unit Ponce & Bird multifamily project currently underway in Miami, and is highly familiar with the Florida market; the company’s experience in Florida includes the development of 3,000 acres of master-planned communities including Palencia, Glen St. John and Woodlawn in Jacksonville; the 16-story, 101-unit luxury condominium tower, Madeira on Marco Island; the 55-story Wachovia Financial Center in Miami; and the 12-story 2525 Ponce de Leon building in Coral Gables. Hines recently acted as the development manager for the Frank Gehry-designed New World Center performing arts center in Miami Beach, as well as the new Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center currently under construction in the City of Orlando.