{"id":70446,"date":"2025-12-04T01:33:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T01:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/70446\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T01:33:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T01:33:07","slug":"st-petes-tallest-building-is-ready-to-welcome-residents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/70446\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Pete\u2019s tallest building is ready to welcome residents"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mayor Ken Welch toured a building<\/a> Wednesday that he said symbolizes St. Petersburg\u2019s evolution into a city with the nation\u2019s \u201cmost vibrant downtown.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Welch was referring to the 46-story Residences at 400 Central, St. Petersburg\u2019s tallest tower. The city has granted the Red Apple Group<\/a> a temporary certificate of occupancy for the building\u2019s first 25 floors, and the development firm expects to begin welcoming residents by the end of the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

John Catsimatidis Sr., founder of New York-based Red Apple Group, led attendees to his penthouse, nearly 515 above Tampa Bay. The mixed-use development occupies a city block and features 301 luxury condominiums, 60,000 square feet of street-level commercial space, 45,000 square feet of Class A office space and a 46th-floor Sky Observatory.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a transformative project for our city,\u201d Welch said. \u201cWe have the most dynamic, walkable and vibrant downtown in all of America, and that secret is out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Construction on 400 Central, an over $400 million project, commenced in October 2022. Catsimatidis thanked city officials for their assistance in building \u201cthe most iconic\u201d tower in St. Petersburg.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He believes the development will foster additional investments in the city. Catsimatidis noted that Red Apple is developing a 23-story tower<\/a> along Mirror Lake, about four blocks away, and will open a regional office in St. Petersburg.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Roughly 50 residences at 400 Central remain unsold. Catsimatidis told the Catalyst that he never doubted the project\u2019s success.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to build an iconic building that would be the cornerstone of St. Petersburg\u2019s growth,\u201d Catsimatidis said. \u201cAnd I think we accomplished that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hurricanes Helene and Milton caused some slight delays. The project made headlines when a sizable section of a 500-foot tower crane flew into a neighboring building<\/a> during the latter storm\u2019s 100 mph gusts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, the tour was decidedly celebratory. Welch told Catsimatidis, who will spend more time in St. Petersburg than in New York City once the top floors pass city inspections, that \u201cwe are so happy to have you here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re so appreciative of you believing in us and investing in us,\u201d Welch continued. \u201cTo you and the Red Apple Group, thank you so much.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

John Catsimatidis Sr. (right), founder of the Red Apple Group, presents Police Chief Anthony Holloway (left) with a donation to the Police Athletic League of St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n

Catsimatidis said his wife\u2019s parents began urging him to invest in the city when they moved to the area in 1981. He admittedly would have \u201cmade a ton of money\u201d had he heeded their advice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Welch said the city planned to increase downtown\u2019s density for decades, \u201cand the infrastructure is here to support that.\u201d He added that the city must improve its infrastructure due to its age and increasing environmental threats, \u201cnot because of growth.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The mayor also explained that his \u201chousing opportunities for all\u201d mantra includes market-rate projects, which, unlike those that serve low-income residents, do not receive public funding. \u201cYou definitely need the economic push that this kind of development brings \u2013 the jobs and office and retail (space).\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Catsimatidis recently requested \u2013 and received<\/a> \u2013 additional time to submit a redevelopment proposal for the Historic Gas Plant District, currently home to Tropicana Field. Welch will now open the 30-day window Jan. 4.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While noncommittal, Catsimatidis said he remains interested<\/a> in the generational project. What is certain is that he plans to increase his \u201cinvestment in St. Pete, overall.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

That includes supporting local underserved children. Before the tour, Catsimatidis presented St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway with a check for the Police Athletic League (PAL), which provides a safe and affordable place for out-of-school youth.<\/p>\n

Catsimatidis has supported the city\u2019s PAL affiliate for three consecutive years<\/a>. \u201cThis is my community, too,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever you need from us \u2013 we\u2019re dedicated to St. Pete,\u201d Catsimatidis added. \u201cWe want to be here, and we want to help.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Condominium owners will begin moving into the Residences at 400 Central this month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mayor Ken Welch toured a building Wednesday that he said symbolizes St. Petersburg\u2019s evolution into a city with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70447,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-70446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}