More than 600 apartments can move forward on a site associated with St. Petersburg College in the Skyway Marina District after St. Petersburg City Council rejected an appeal challenging the project, clearing the way for another major residential development along the rapidly changing 34th Street South corridor after a debate over housing affordability, retail space and the future of growth in South St. Petersburg.
The council voted 6-1 to deny the appeal of the proposed 619-unit development planned for a 16.25-acre site at 3200 34th St. S. The project includes seven apartment buildings rising up to 72 feet, surface parking and a one-acre parcel reserved for future commercial development.
City staff recommended approval, and the Development Review Commission previously approved the site plan, but the project drew opposition from the developer behind nearby SkyTown, which argued the proposal failed to follow the broader mixed-use vision established for the Skyway Marina District because it does not include retail frontage along 34th Street South. The appeal also challenged the project’s stormwater calculations…