Downtown St. Petersburg has seen a lot of development in the past year, and that doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
A new 13-story condominium will be erected at the corner of Second Street and Fifth Avenue South. The Dali-inspired building called “The Salvador” will be the newest addition to the development-rich downtown area.
The acre of land was officially closed on at the end of January, and according to Sally Dee, the head of public relations for the development, “Construction will begin early next month. We’ve already wrapped the site, and the site prep has already begun.”
The condominium tower will have 74 units, with a little more than 30 percent already sold. With construction about to begin, The Salvador is expected to be completed by the middle of 2016 with a price tag of $30 million.
“[The Salvador] will be the first ‘green-certified’ condo residence in downtown St. Petersburg,” Dee said. DDA Development, the Tampa-based developer spearheading the project, is looking to add to the uniqueness of downtown’s character without making a huge footprint.
“The developers are very involved with the community,” Dee said. “They want to be a part of the neighborhood.” DDA Development is one of the main sponsors of the Dali/Picasso exhibit, which ended Feb. 22 at the Dali Museum.
The inspiration developers drew from Dali can be clearly seen in the architectural mock-ups of the site. The balconies on the southwest corner of the building alternate, drawing on inspiration from Dali’s “City of Drawers.” The stucco walls of the condo and the screen on the parking garage will both use pixilation, a technique which Dali often used in his paintings, most famously illustrated in “Portrait of My Dead Brother.”
“It’s important that a building has life and energy; that there is delight in it,” said Tim Clemmons, one of the project’s architects, in The Salvador’s promotional brochure. “When designing ‘The Salvador,’ we were inspired by the imagery in Dali’s paintings and strove to bring that into the personality of the building.”
“You’re really seeing that inspiration,” Dee said. “They’ve used the colors and finishes from towns in Spain. They really want to give a nod to Salvador Dali. Dali has done a lot for St. Petersburg.”
Dee is happy to see that praise of Dali reflected in the project.
On Feb. 4, 2015, DDA Development and the real estate agency, Smith and Associates, threw a kick-off gala at the Dali Museum to celebrate the closing of the land and thank the future residents of “The Salvador.” It was a well-attended affair, complete with complimentary wine and hors d’oeuvres.
Aside from the food and drink, attendees were invited to browse the exhibits in the museum at their leisure. In attendance was St. Petersburg’s mayor, Rick Kriseman, who was there supporting the developers and the project itself. Kriseman spent the evening talking with the developers, mingling with the attendees and pausing for a few photos with guests.
The site, just north of the USF St. Petersburg campus, has already shown signs of development. In a matter of weeks, the three buildings currently occupying the land will be torn down, and the foundation for “The Salvador” will be poured and the condo tower will ascend. Once completed, “The Salvador” will call 199 Dali Blvd. home. The future condos will range from $335,000 to $1.4 million, with two-bedroom, two-bath units ranging from $450,000 to $650,000.
