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A fresh take on what Tampa's 50-story-plus Riverwalk Place will look like

 
Riverwalk Place, a mixed-used tower developed by Feldman Equities and Two Roads Development, will have condos, offices, shops and restaurants on Tampa's Riverwalk. The 50-plus story tower is designed by the architectural firm Gensler. [Courtesy of Gensler/Thom Filicia]
Riverwalk Place, a mixed-used tower developed by Feldman Equities and Two Roads Development, will have condos, offices, shops and restaurants on Tampa's Riverwalk. The 50-plus story tower is designed by the architectural firm Gensler. [Courtesy of Gensler/Thom Filicia]
Published Sept. 11, 2018

TAMPA — Weeks before the sales center is due to open, potential buyers already are placing reservations on condos in Riverwalk Place.

"The pace has been awfully good, better than we expected," said Reid Boren, managing partner of Two Roads Development. The South Florida company is partnering with Feldman Equities on the $350-million tower, which at 50-plus stories will be the tallest building on Florida's west coast.

The developers today released new renderings of Riverwalk Place, showing a sleek tower designed to evoke a ship at sail. The "bow" is pointed southwest toward the bay so both sides of the tower will have water views.

Shops and restaurants will front the popular promenade from which Riverwalk Place draws its name. Above those will be office space, a 20th floor Sky Deck and pool, and condos priced from $600,000 to well over $1 million.

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The architectural firm Gensler designed the building with interiors by Thom Filicia, an original cast member of the TV show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. His clients have included Oprah Winfrey, David Bowie and Tina Fey.

"We're very proud of what's he done," Boren said. "He's taken a very modern exterior and complemented it with a contemporary but livable interior that I think people will love."

A sales center with a scale model of the tower is almost finished in the nearby Wells Fargo building, another Feldman Equities property. So far the center has been open by appointment only but should be ready for business in October.

Construction is expected to start next year although the timing will depend on pre-sales, Boren said. The developers have yet to decide how many condos the tower will have or the ratio of residential to office space.

Since the beginning, the office component "has been a moving target based on demand," Boren said.

Riverwalk Place, at Ashley Drive and Whiting Street, has been a long time in the making. Developer Larry Feldman first announced the project in 2015 on the site of the doomed Trump Tower Tampa. Last year, a company that was to have developed the residential part of the Riverwalk tower sued in a dispute over whether there should be more condos and less office space. That case has since been settled.

In March, Two Roads Development revealed it would be the co-owner of Riverwalk Place. Based in West Palm Beach, Two Roads has built and financed several major South Florida condo projects.

At its start three years ago, Riverwalk Place seemed destined to be Tampa's first new tower with Class A office space in more than two decades. But Water Street Tampa last seek announced plans for a pair of 19- and 20-story towers with a total of 880,000 feet of Class A space. The 20-story building is due to start construction next spring and almost certainly would be finished well ahead of Riverwalk Place. Depending on how leasing goes, the second tower could also be built before the Feldman-Two Roads project opens.

But if the economy continues strong and Tampa continues to grow, all three projects could do well.

Riverwalk, with less office space, "will cater more to boutique-y type firms while Water Street will attract bigger tenants and that's what it intends to do," said Barry Oaks, senior director in the Tampa office of Cushman & Wakefield.

Boren said he and Feldman have seen renderings of the Water Street towers and think they will complement Riverwalk Place.

"Tampa downtown is going to be stunning and look a lot like some of the great cities all over the world," he said. "So I think all of this is good for Tampa and especially great for downtown."

Contact Susan Taylor Martin at smartin@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8642. Follow @susanskate