St. Pete Beach commission approves Miramar Beach Resort redevelopment, grants density units after 3-2 votes

The St. Pete Beach City Commission approved a conditional use permit and a density allocation for the Miramar Beach Resort redevelopment on Jan. 14, 2025, voting 3-2 to allow an eight-story, 30-room hotel tower at 42100 Gulf Boulevard and to draw 12 temporary lodging units from the city’s boutique-hotel density pool.

The commission’s approvals allow the developer to retain and renovate 20 existing rooms, demolish 10, and add a new tower configured to provide 50 units total (64.2 units per billable acre). The new tower was described in staff materials and by the project team as elevated above the base flood elevation; non-habitable architectural overrun is allowed to 86 feet above base flood elevation.

The project team — including attorney Katie Cole (Hill Ward Henderson), property owner Kevin Boden, architect Jack Bosiak and engineer Sean Cashin (Gulf Coast Consulting) — presented a design the applicant said reduced overall mass and footprint compared with an earlier, previously permitted scheme. Community Development Director Denise Sanderson told the commission the revised plan lowered the site’s overall building area and pushed new construction farther from Gulf Boulevard.

Why it matters: The plan revises an earlier approved redevelopment and returns three previously allocated units to the density pool while asking the city to allocate 12 units from the boutique-hotel pool. The city’s vote allows the tower and rooftop restaurant to proceed subject to the conditions adopted by the commission, and it triggers required state and federal permitting steps for dune/shoreline work and floodplain management.

Details and conditions: Staff and the applicant told the commission the project will include a public-access easement along the mean high water line and a beach-access route; it will use on-site stormwater vaulting and repair or replace utilities to serve the site. Engineer Sean Cashin reported the existing sewer lateral that serves the property can accommodate the proposed redevelopment, while noting broader sewer upgrades remain a citywide issue. The project proposes valet-only parking with stacking spaces and a plan for on-site deliveries and trash operations that staff said meet the code’s loading thresholds.

The commission’s action: A motion to approve the conditional use permit passed 3-2 (yes: Commissioner Resznicki, Vice Mayor Mahaland, Commissioner Marriott; no: Commissioner Robinson, Mayor Petrella). The companion ordinance to allocate 12 units from the boutique-hotel density pool also passed on the roll call (approved by the same margin). The approvals include conditions requiring final dune-permitting approval from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for access across the dune, a minimum 15-foot beachfront easement and other measures the staff report lists for site plan, landscape and noise control.

Opposition and scrutiny: During the public hearing commissioners and residents pressed the applicant and staff on flood resiliency for the existing ground-floor units, beach access details and transportation impacts. Some commissioners expressed concern that retaining and renovating ground-floor rooms rather than elevating every lodging unit meant the redevelopment was not as resilient as the previously permitted project. The applicant responded that 30 new tower rooms will be elevated to meet FEMA-related building codes and said it will floodproof the retained rooms with certified measures allowed under FEMA guidance.

Next steps: The city will incorporate the commission’s conditions into final permits. The applicant holds related permits and told the commission it has a construction financing commitment and intends to proceed to permitting and construction once condition and state permitting requirements are met.

Votes at a glance: The conditional use permit resolution passed 3-2 (Resznicki, Mahaland, Marriott — yes; Robinson, Petrella — no). The ordinance allocating 12 boutique-hotel units was adopted following the public hearing by the same 3-2 margin.

Ending: The approvals allow the Miramar Beach Resort owner to move forward with a smaller-footprint redevelopment that preserves some existing rooms and adds an elevated hotel tower; the commission’s close 3-2 votes reflected continuing debate about resilience, neighborhood character and public-utilities impacts.