City Closes on Sale of Former Police Headquarters Site

By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. View our Privacy Policy for more information.

Preferences Deny Accept

Privacy Preference Center

When you visit websites, they may store or retrieve data in your browser. This storage is often necessary for the basic functionality of the website. The storage may be used for marketing, analytics, and personalization of the site, such as storing your preferences. Privacy is important to us, so you have the option of disabling certain types of storage that may not be necessary for the basic functioning of the website. Blocking categories may impact your experience on the website.

Reject all cookies Allow all cookies

Manage Consent Preferences by Category

Essential

Always Active

These items are required to enable basic website functionality.

Marketing

Essential

These items are used to deliver advertising that is more relevant to you and your interests. They may also be used to limit the number of times you see an advertisement and measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. Advertising networks usually place them with the website operator’s permission.

Personalization

Essential

These items allow the website to remember choices you make (such as your user name, language, or the region you are in) and provide enhanced, more personal features. For example, a website may provide you with local weather reports or traffic news by storing data about your current location.

Analytics

Essential

These items help the website operator understand how its website performs, how visitors interact with the site, and whether there may be technical issues. This storage type usually doesn’t collect information that identifies a visitor.

Confirm my preferences and close

The City of St. Petersburg has closed on the sale of its former police headquarters site at 1300 1st Avenue North to Ellison Development, clearing the way for The Central, a $200 million mixed-use project in the EDGE District.

The Central will bring a mix of office, hospitality, housing and public space to the 2.1-acre site. Its centerpiece is Halcyon, a 10-story office building with about 116,000 square feet of Class A space and more than 11,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. ARK Invest plans to relocate its headquarters to Halcyon, which will be downtown’s first major office tower since 1990. With downtown St. Pete holding the tightest office market in the Tampa Bay region, the new space marks an important step for the city’s growing economy.

The project will also include a 165-room Marriott Autograph Collection hotel and 42 income-restricted workforce apartments for households earning up to 120% of the area median income. Central Plaza, a new landscaped gathering space, will feature a public art installation by Ya La’ford honoring the Courageous Twelve, the Black police officers who challenged segregation in the St. Petersburg Police Department.

The adjacent public garage, which opened in June 2025, will keep 400 public parking spaces and remain open throughout construction. Under the agreement, the office, retail and workforce housing are to be completed by January 1, 2030.

The Central was designed by Place Architecture, and Cushman & Wakefield is leading office leasing at Halcyon.

Source: St. Pete Rising,