Tampa’s Bayshore Boulevard is getting another high-rise condo project

TAMPA — The Related Group of Miami this week filed plans with Tampa City Hall for its next high-profile project in the bay area: 168 luxury condos in two towers of 27 and 26 stories on Bayshore Boulevard.

"This will be a landmark project that furthers Tampa’s emergence as a next-generation city,” Related senior vice president Mike Hammon said.

Expect condos with open floor plans and private elevator entries, as well as a management company associated with a high-end hotel brand. Related’s portfolio already includes condos carrying the Auberge and SLS hotel brands, similar to the Ritz-Carlton Residences in Sarasota.

“They manage it, and they offer more services than you would get in a typical condominium,” Hammon said Friday. “We feel Tampa’s ready for that.”

The towers would replace the Bay Oaks Apartments south of W Bay-to-Bay Boulevard. The complex was built in 1974 and consists of a dozen buildings with 176 apartments.

Related, which bought the site about a year ago, says condo pre-sales could begin in July, with most units priced at $1.5 million to $3 million. Demolition of the old apartments and construction is expected to start in late 2021. The first tower, including the garage and town homes, is projected to open in early 2024. The second would open in early 2028.

Having a site of nearly 5 acres allows Related to build its towers and a 378-space parking garage so that the scale of the development steps down as it gets closer to neighborhood roads like W Santiago Street. So the garage, with an amenities deck on its roof, will be lined with 17 ground-floor town homes and lush landscaping or art.

“We just think that will create a much more pedestrian friendly environment, especially if you’re on Santiago, to have it lined with town homes, and will help create the kind of neighborhood feel we want,” Hammon said.

The towers will be Related’s sixth project in the Tampa Bay area, with a seventh, 1,500 residences in the West River redevelopment north of Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park, in the pipeline.

Related executives say they’re committed to doing more in the bay area. In an interview in December, Related founder, chairman and CEO Jorge Pérez said, "we’re looking everywhere in this market … even when the markets don’t call for it, but we think they will call for it in the future.”