Kolter Urban has topped out ONE Tampa, bringing the 42-story condominium tower to full height with nearly 70% of its 225 residences sold. The developer expects buyers to begin closing on their units in the third quarter of 2027.
Most of the buyers already live in the Tampa area, according to Steve Barber, a development executive with Kolter Urban. Those sales have shown that local demand exists for luxury condominiums in Tampa’s traditional downtown, where developers have built far more rental apartments than condos.
“There certainly hadn’t been this type of luxury product in the central business district,” Barber said. “Downtown Tampa historically has not been a huge condo market. But we’ve seen the proof. There’s plenty of demand for in-town condominiums.”
The tower sits at North Ashley Drive and East Twiggs Street, near Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, the Tampa Museum of Art, the Straz Center for the Performing Arts and the Tampa Riverwalk. Water Street Tampa and the Channel District had already added thousands of homes east of downtown’s office core. ONE Tampa brings new housing to its western edge.
“The momentum that the whole city has right now is feeding the demand for the central business district,” Barber said. “You’re seeing the effects of that with other properties that have traded hands now, with future condominiums being planned.”
Kolter Urban originally planned a 55-story tower. The Federal Aviation Administration and Hillsborough County Aviation Authority, however, limited the building and the equipment used to construct it to a maximum height of 649 feet.
The developer had dealt with a similar aviation restriction before building ONE St. Petersburg. Barber said Kolter Urban could have tried to change the Tampa limit, but the process would have delayed the project. The company shortened the tower to 42 stories and moved ahead.
Explore More Tampa Bay Real Estate News
Stay up to date on commercial real estate deals, development projects, office, industrial, retail and multifamily news from across the Tampa Bay region.
“We could have probably worked with them to get that changed,” Barber said. “That would have taken a tremendous amount of time. In the interest of time, we decided to rightsize the building and keep moving forward.”
Hurricanes later damaged neighboring buildings and made work along the shared property lines more difficult, costing the project about two months. Barber said the construction team has regained most of that time. Moss has raised the building at a pace of about one floor a week.
The tower stands on a concrete mat foundation that required about 1,200 cubic yards of concrete and a 22-hour pour. Although the structure has reached its final height, crews still have about a year of work left inside the building.
“We’re topping out the structure, yet we’re just getting going with the interior,” Barber said. “We have a ways to go.”
Adache Group Architects designed the tower. Its one-, two- and three-bedroom residences will range from just under 1,200 square feet to about 2,700 square feet. Three-bedroom estate residences and penthouses with dens will occupy the upper floors, with plans ranging from approximately 3,600 to 4,000 square feet.
Kolter Urban plans to provide many of the services found in branded condominiums without tying ONE Tampa to a hotel company. The building will have a restaurant for residents called Skyline Bistro, along with 24-hour valet service, a lifestyle director, guest suites, a private screening room, a sports simulator, a two-level fitness center and a pool terrace on the 11th floor.
“We have most, if not all, of those same amenities, including even our in-house food and beverage program,” Barber said. “It is a building that’s focused on lifestyle and the experience of living downtown.”
Plans also call for about 5,000 square feet of public restaurant space on the ground floor along North Ashley Drive, across from Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park. That restaurant would join a downtown dining scene that barely existed after office hours when Barber arrived in Tampa more than 20 years ago.
“You see a lot more activity day and night, whereas Tampa used to shut down after business hours because it was primarily a business district,” Barber said. “You see a lot more cultural outlets, a lot more restaurants, just more general activity that is the draw for people to want to live, work and play downtown.”
