Stock Development, the Naples-based residential developer, paid $32.5 million for the former Tampa Bay Times building and the adjacent historic Tramor Cafeteria in Downtown St. Petersburg — $18 million for the storm-damaged tower and $14.5 million for the Tramor — with plans to demolish the Times structure and replace it with a condominium high-rise carrying ground-floor commercial space, per St. Pete Rising.
The Times tower has stood vacant since October 2024, when a construction crane crashed into the building during Hurricane Milton. The 1.8-acre site transfers now more than a year after the storm with a plan clearly drawn: one building comes down, the other stays.
The pricing reflects Stock Development's read of the two parcels as distinct assets. At $18 million, the crane-damaged tower is being valued as land to be cleared. At $14.5 million, the Tramor — a historic building immediately adjacent — is being valued as something worth preserving alongside whatever rises in its place. That distinction is not incidental: the Tramor's historic designation may carry design and review constraints that shape the massing and street relationship of the planned high-rise.
Ground-floor commercial is included in the stated program for the new tower, a detail that places this project in line with the mixed-use ground-floor conditions that have defined Downtown St. Pete's recent high-rise approvals. The residential stack above remains unspecified — no unit count, height, or design team has been publicly disclosed.
Stock Development's portfolio has historically concentrated in Southwest Florida's coastal residential market, primarily in and around Naples. This Downtown St. Pete acquisition marks a geographic expansion for the firm and drops it onto one of the more closely watched blocks in the urban core. The Times building's crane collapse during Milton was among the highest-profile storm-damage events in downtown St. Pete, and its redevelopment will draw attention commensurate with that profile.
With the $32.5 million acquisition now closed, the next public signal will come through city permitting filings. The Tramor's historic status may introduce an additional review layer, and the relationship between the preserved cafeteria building and the new tower's massing will be among the first design questions the project has to answer.
