Lord, Aeck & Sargent Designs Condominium Complex

As downtown St. Petersburg has been undergoing a construction boom for several years, city planning and zoning officials are understandably concerned about ensuring that new downtown buildings fit in with their surroundings.

So in 2005, when representatives from multifamily and mixed-use developer Miles Development Partners and architecture firm Lord, Aeck & Sargent first discussed with the City their plans for a large condominium development, planning and zoning officials said the structure - on about an acre of land by a busy thoroughfare that accesses Interstate 175 - would stand little chance of approval if it exceeded seven stories.

City officials also suggested that an appropriate structure would step down in height as it got closer to its neighbors.

"It wasn't a practical suggestion," said Eric Brock, head of Lord, Aeck & Sargent's Housing & Mixed-Use Studio and design principal for the St. Petersburg project.

"A stepped building would have been unnecessarily complex and would have limited the density that Miles needed as well as the number of units with views of downtown St. Petersburg and the nearby Tampa Bay."