Small, furnished apartments break ground near Water Street in downtown Tampa

BDG Architects, in conjunction with Bendinroad Development, LEMA Construction, Inc., and Landings Real Estate Group celebrated the groundbreaking of The Residences at 701 Whiting Street in Downtown Tampa on March 20th. The 104-unit building will be a collection of luxury, semi furnished studio and one bedroom apartment homes just steps away from Amalie Arena and the Water Street Development.

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Small, furnished apartments break ground near Water Street in downtown Tampa

The developer of a midrise apartment building near Water Street Tampa has landed a $17 million construction loan.

Developers Craig Bazarsky of Tampa and Chris Bicho of Newport, Rhode Island-based Landings Real Estate Group said Monday that they are moving forward with a seven-story, 104-unit apartment complex at 701 E. Whiting St. An entity linked to Bicho paid $1.7 million for the quarter-acre parcel in early 2022, according to Hillsborough County property records.

Berkshire Bank, based in Boston, provided a $17 million loan for the project on March 6, according to county property records.

Plans for the project first went public in September 2021. The plans remain unchanged, Bazarsky said: The units will range from 400 to 450 square feet and feature furniture from Ori Inc., a New York company specializing in furniture to maximize small spaces.

The apartment building recently broke ground, Bazarsky said, and the developers anticipate a 17-month construction timeframe. St. Petersburg-based LEMA Construction is the general contractor.

As land prices and rents skyrocket in downtown Tampa, more developers are turning their attention to smaller apartments. Asher, a tower in Water Street, has studios as small as 337 square feet and one-bedroom units as small as 534 square feet. Dr. Kiran Patel, a real estate developer and philanthropist, recently closed on land for micro-unit condominiums in downtown Tampa's Encore district.