Inside The Ascent, a St. Petersburg hotel, apartment tower opening in 2023

A 36-story skyscraper topped off last week in downtown St. Petersburg.

Developers celebrated construction on the Ascent St. Pete building for reaching its highest point on April 29, according to a statement from Greystar Real Estate Partners, a global managing and developing firm based in Charleston, S.C. At 357 feet tall, the building is expected to be the tallest rental high-rise in the Tampa Bay region.

Here’s a peek into what it will look like inside.

Ascent St. Pete will have both apartments and hotel rooms through a partnership with AC by Marriott. More than 170 rooms will be reserved for the Marriott hotel. AC by Marriott is a collaboration with hotelier Antonio Catalan. It’s the second AC hotel in the region — the first is AC Hotel Marriott Tampa Airport by the Tampa International Airport at 4020 W Boy Scout Blvd.

The hotel lobby will feature a bar, project renderings show. There will also be a restaurant and bar with an outdoor terrace on the eighth floor, according to Greystar. The ground floor along First Avenue N and Second Street N will have 6,800 square feet of shopping and dining space.

Tampa Bay has one of the hottest rental markets in the nation, according to data from real estate firm CoStar. Downtown St. Petersburg has seen rents shoot up by 22.2 percent in the last year, CoStar research shows. Yet downtown living in Tampa Bay is still cheaper than most other larger cities. The average cost of downtown apartments ranges from $2,000 and $2,500 a month, which compared to cities like New York, Boston and Austin, where costs are more than $3,000.

There will be 357 apartments available — from studios to one-, two- and three-bedrooms plus penthouse units with their own amenities. The Ascent boasts 360-degree views of Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Nearly every unit will have glass balconies, said Greystar senior director of development David King in a statement.

Ascent St. Pete will have two outdoor pools, one on the sixth floor and the other on the top floor, plus coworking spaces.

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The Ascent began construction in December 2020 and is expected to open in January 2023, Greystar said. Final construction on the $117 million project could end in May of next year.

“Ascent will provide an unparalleled rental housing experience in the Tampa Bay region,” King said in a statement. ”Overall, Ascent connects with St. Pete’s vibrant energy and creates an environment where residents can feel like they vacation where they live.”