By Bob Andelman
Maddux Business Report
September 2007
You can’t appreciate the allure of St. Petersburg’s new mid-rise and high-rise residential and office towers until you’re standing above the low-rise profile of the older part of the city.
Suddenly the street level clutter and concrete clears and it’s quite apparent what keeps drawing developers, residents and new tenants to this reborn Florida city: the 360-degree panoramas are spectacular, led by the view of the sparkling blue waters of Tampa Bay.
The view has always been there, but until recent years there hasn’t been as much pressure to get up high enough to see it all. Today, however, despite a construction slowdown in many places, downtown St. Petersburg just keeps getting taller, its views getting better and better.
And it’s not just the views up above that are improving.
Architectural expectations in the city are also on the upswing. It’s no longer enough to have great sight lines looking away from the city; the look of the city itself is also evolving in dramatic fashion:
