By Geraldine Fabrikant
May 26, 2023

TIERRA VERDE, FL / ACCESSWIRE / May 25, 2023 / Nestled in the tranquil and scenic landscapes of Tierra Verde, Florida, lies an extraordinary property that harmoniously blends contemporary elegance and serenity. Recently featured in luxury magazine, Haute Living, Tre Sorelle is a stunning Tuscan farmhouse that offers a haven of luxurious indulgence, unparalleled beauty, and absolute privacy. Crafted with meticulous attention to detail, every aspect of this remarkable home – from its awe-inspiring design to its unparalleled construction – exudes exceptional quality and craftsmanship. This is the ultimate luxury retreat, where modern sophistication meets serene seclusion.

The idea of Tre Sorelle began with the purchase of lot 24 on Oceanview Drive by the current owner in 1997. It is one of the largest lots on the street and provides both privacy and protection. After much persuasion, Albert Alfonso, a brilliant architect, agreed to work on this project under one condition. He would take on the project only if the owner was committed to building an authentic Tuscan farmhouse.

To make this project a reality, both the owner and architect traveled to Tuscany twice to research and take hundreds of photographs of buildings throughout the countryside. They visited scores of houses and toured many to get an idea of what they wanted. They took photos of roofs, roof lines, doors (interior, exterior, barn), windows, shutters, stone, stonework, landscaping, and fire pits to get real reference information to drive every detail of the design.

On the plane ride back to Tampa, they sat together and imagined the home they now call Tre Sorelle. Without a single architectural drawing, Albert Alfonso painted the building almost exactly as it exists today. The same watercolor painting is still sitting on its tiny easel in the family room of Tre Sorelle, as it has been since the house was finished two decades ago.

Constructed to withstand the tests of Mother Nature, Tre Sorelle features massive spread footings, a concrete block structure from foundation to roof line, and fortified exterior walls featuring an additional 10 to 12-inch layer of limestone quarried and shipped from Barletta-Andria-Trani, Italy. The authentic Ludowici Italian terracotta roof tiles come with a 75-year warranty, while the hurricane-impact windows and doors are supplied by the world’s pre-eminent manufacturers like Tischler und Sohn and Hope’s Windows.

Encompassing over 12,000 square feet of luxury living, the home boasts seven bedrooms, eight full baths, three half baths, a library, two offices, an elevator, a wine cellar, a gym, and a four-plus-car garage. The interior showcases soaring ceilings, impressive Douglas Fir beam and plank work, and solid mahogany doors. A stunning, cool honey-colored pink-veined Corton limestone spiral staircase unites the three levels of the home, adding an air of French elegance from the Burgundy region.

The main level offers an open floor plan with a living room, gourmet kitchen, casual and formal dining areas, two offices, and a guest suite. The upper level features six en-suite bedrooms and a sun-filled library, while the lower level houses additional storage rooms, a wine cellar, and a gym.

Outside, a tranquil oasis welcomes fun and relaxation. Tre Sorelle has expansive covered lounging and dining areas, a fire pit surrounded by a moat, and a geothermal-heated pool. Ideally located close to the downtown of St. Petersburg and Gulf beaches, Tre Sorelle is less than 30 minutes from Tampa International Airport, offering the perfect balance between peace and serenity and the conveniences of modern living.

In a sea of homes that simply mimic the Tuscan style, Tre Sorelle stands out as a rare gem that remains true to the architectural heritage of Tuscany. The level of authenticity and dedication invested in this property is unparalleled, and it is evident in every detail of its design and construction. With the exorbitant cost and logistical challenges involved in building a property of this caliber today, Tre Sorelle truly represents a one-of-a-kind luxury that is sure to captivate and inspire all who experience it.

About Robyn Gunn:

With a wealth of experience spanning four continents, Robyn Gunn is a distinguished real estate agent with a proven track record of marketing and selling luxury properties in Tampa Bay and beyond. As the top individual agent for Premier Sotheby’s Tampa Bay area, her global perspective sets her apart from other real estate professionals.

Originally from Australia, Robyn’s professional background includes successful tenures in human resource management and co-owning two businesses. Her collaboration with The Royal Bank of Canada has allowed her to offer valuable insights as a guest speaker on Florida’s real estate market and help buyers understand current conditions.

Robyn’s unwavering commitment to customer satisfaction is evident in her exceptional focus on anticipating client needs, fostering strong relationships, and delivering exceptional services that consistently exceed expectations. With her wealth of knowledge and responsiveness, Robyn Gunn is a true standout in the world of luxury real estate. Her unparalleled achievements in high-value sales for luxury and second homes are a testament to her expertise.

A vacant piece of property adjacent to the Museum of the American Arts and Crafts Movement may be redeveloped into a 35-story apartment tower.

The Atlantic Companies LLC, an Atlanta-based developer, is proposing to build a 375-foot-high apartment tower on a parcel at 333 3rd Ave. N. and 355 4th St. N.

The property is on the same block that houses the museum, Synovus Bank and the Expansive co-working office building. There is a vacant stormwater site within the block, which is the portion of the property The Atlantic Companies is proposing to develop.

By Veronica Brezina
May 24, 2023

The Atlantic Companies, which has worked on the mixed-use Midtown Tampa development, is under contract to buy the property from the ownership group operating the Expansive co-working space.

Previous plans show the tower would have 315 apartment units and a 271-space screened parking garage; however, the modified plans call for an increase of 348 units and 277 parking spaces, according to the new filed site plan.

There would also be 2,203 square feet of ground-floor commercial space.

The applicant is requesting an FAR (floor area ratio) of 4.5. The property is in a DC-2 zoned area in the Central Business District and Intown Activity Center, which permits the highest intensity development. The Atlantic Companies group is requesting a 1.0 FAR bonus for contributing to the city’s workforce housing fund and 0.5 FAR for providing an additional 5% ground-level open space.

The filed documents do not indicate a construction timeline and overall cost of the development.

According to the site plan, The Atlantic Companies is working with Tampa-based Alfonso Architects – designers of the Museum of the American Arts & Crafts Movement – and civil engineering firm Kimley-Horn. Trenam Law attorney Don Mastry is representing the developer.

The site is near a potentially eligible landmark, Victoria Apartments, located at 341 3rd St. N., which is within 200 feet of the subject property. The development team said the proposed project would not have a negative impact on the existing apartments.

Saxon Henry

MATERIALS
INTERVIEW

Architizer continues to explore how architects experience the emotional realm during the process of creation, presenting the points of view of some of the profession’s most actualized practitioners. Today, Saxon Henry, author of Four Florida Moderns, interviews Alberto Alfonso, AIA, a founding principal and president of Alonso Architects. The firm is building the new 110,000-square-foot museum of the American arts and crafts movement in St. Petersburg, Florida.

I have emotional responses when I experience architecture and I’m curious to know if you are aware of having emotional responses when creating it.

I am still amazed that I can begin sketching an idea for a project, the first sketch, and years later I am standing inside some version of that idea. The entire process of the creation of architecture is such an emotional ride. The child is constantly at risk — from budget to program, to schedule, to construction quality. It is, by definition, an emotional process and you have to fight for it, every step.

Museum of the American Arts & Crafts Movement, St. Petersburg, Fla.

Do you have a normal emotional starting point once you know you are going to take on a project?

I have to be patient for that moment to come and resist going forward too soon. Our work systematically and compositionally has a DNA that runs through it. So, the core idea and soul is what gives the project individuality and, it is my hope, the aspect that breathes life into the work. But, yes, there is an emotional “go” moment.

Do you know when you’ve “got it,” meaning you know emotionally when you have the best design for a building you can possibly create at any given time?

As I referenced, there is a conceptual core idea that is the design compass from which every decision should be made. In Streamsong, it was the vertical section metaphor of the water, land, foliage, and sky. So, we had a map of sorts. We then had many small “got it” moments that went on for four years, each of which was subservient to the initial epiphany moment.

Streamsong Resort, Bowling Green, Fla.

Do you feel that as an architect matures, different emotions come into play or do you feel temperament is a set piece of the personality?

My temperament has always been optimistic, which has helped keep the work fresh in the midst of economic cycles. As Aalto famously said during a lecture in Milan, “L‘archittetura e molto difficile!” — so many factors conspire against it that we are constantly transforming challenges into victories. I try to lead with optimism. My life as a painter is an outlet that has helped us stay on keel, as well.

Do you do active charrettes in your studios with your teams and, if so, how does emotionality come into play during that process?

We charrette weekly and have a very hands-on approach in the studio. We build many models, at all scales, and try to hand-draw as much as possible. Our process for the New St. Pete Pier competition turned into a three-month nightly charrette that was both invigorating and exhausting.

Do you experience different emotions when you are walking through your built projects that surprise you in any way and can you give me an example?

Scale is always interesting and we are still amazed when we go from paper to the built work. We’ve become successfully intuitive by now at sensing scale, but early on, the big work was a bit of a gamble. I was in a service at the Tampa Covenant Church recently and it just felt so right — the height-to-width ratio, very comforting and peaceful.

Tampa Covenant Church, Tampa, Fla.

Do you remember from architecture school if the emotionality of what you were reading and/or studying took you to a new plane of thinking or feeling in any way?

You must have saved the emotional questions for the Cuban architect: I’m seeing a pattern here! When I was in school, the New York Five were in full swing and there was such a rigor to the work in their publications. I learned the importance of line weight and hierarchy and how a curve feels just right. This led me to Corb and painting again. I spent time with Charlie Gwathmey, one of my lifelong heroes, and he was so intense about not compromising, about protecting the work. He and my father instilled the drive and passion to daily be the best architect that I could be.

Do you find any one type of project more emotionally challenging than any other?

We are currently doing a house, and it is without a doubt the most emotionally draining building type. It is simply so personally charged and to do it right, the architect has to consider everything down to the toothbrush leaving water marks, “My husband wakes me up,” or “I want a fireplace; he wants a television.” If not handled right, we become referees so I always have to lay out clear decision-making responsibilities. We are finishing one that we are very proud of, but I work as hard at it as my museum or hospitality work.

Residence on White Trout Lake, Tampa, Fla.

See more from Alfonso Architects, Inc., here.

Brick streets. Large, spacious courtyards. Ornate globe street lamps. Legendary cigar factories. Free-roaming roosters. Historic architecture. Rich multicultural roots. Ybor City, the landmarked district just northeast of downtown Tampa—one of the city’s most celebrated neighborhoods—now has a hotel with a vibrant character to match: Hotel Haya.

The property is the latest to be unveiled by Kevin Robinson and Mario Tricoci of Aparium Hotel Group, whose properties include Kansas City’s Crossroads Hotel, Detroit Foundation Hotel and Minneapolis’ Hewing Hotel, to name a few.

Hotel Haya embodies everything special about Ybor City: exuberant Cuban, Italian and Spanish influences. On a downtown street teeming with history, the project fuses two historic buildings with integrated new build construction: the ornate Las Novedades building, Tampa’s oldest restaurant built in 1890 and the Warren Building, where Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders are rumored to have haunted. The largest property in the Aparium Hotel Group portfolio, Hotel Haya has 178 guestrooms—most of which have balconies, with some overlooking 7th Avenue, known for its shops, bars, parades and celebrations. The result is a new hospitality concept for Ybor City, a destination underserved in the luxury boutique hotel space.

Alfonso Architects Incorporated, founded by Cuban born brothers Albert and Carlos Alfonso, served as architect of record and is responsible for the hotel’s distinct design. Guests will be immersed in “mid-century Cuban” decor with rooms featuring period fabrics and colors: warm and inviting palettes of blue, red, brown and gold. Hotel Haya has exposed brick walls, a repurposed corner “Haya” sign and contemporary and classic art—including four massive Francisco Goya reproductions, one of the most influential Spanish artists of the 18th and 19th centuries.

“There was a lot to draw from—Ybor City is a melting pot of people, food and music,” Albert Alfonso, founding principal/president, Alfonso Architects told InspireDesign. “We wanted a timeless, stylish sensibility that was chic but also inviting for both visitors and local people to come and gather.”

Like every other Aparium property, Hotel Haya will provide locals with deep connections to their city—from design to collaborations with local businesses. Rooms will include Chihuly-style glass-blown globes from artisans from Morean Art Center to mimic the street lamps of Ybor City. Available for purchase will be custom cigars from J.C. Newman Cigars, one of the oldest family-owned cigar companies in the country, and custom candles hand-poured by Seventh Avenue Apothecary. Grown Alchemist bath amenities and Frette bathrobes and plush towels round out the in-room luxury experience.

The hotel also features a collaborative and world-class art initiative with USF Graphicstudio and Contemporary Art Museum. The first artist featured in the hotel’s pre-function gallery is the Ybor City-based artist Theo Wujcik (1936-2014).

Hotel Haya’s secluded courtyard pool is an oasis among the hustle and grit of downtown featuring lush greenery and Italian white tile. Hotel Haya also features vibrant meetings and events spaces including a 4,000-sq.-ft. ballroom.

Local developer Jonathan Daou is planning the project, which goes before the city next week.

By Jay Cridlin
Nov. 3, 2022

Another new boutique hotel is taking shape in St. Petersburg’s Edge District.

St. Petersburg developer Jonathan Daou’s Eastman Equity Holding is planning a 13-story, 114-room hotel at the corner of 11th Street and Central Avenue, according to a proposal scheduled to go before the City Council on Nov. 10.

The $26 million project would sit at 1111 Central Ave., largely on the site of a green space adjacent to Intermezzo Coffee and Cocktails. The Baum Avenue Market space at 1113 Central Ave. would remain and be converted into a restaurant.

Broad plans for the hotel were outlined in August, but the latest proposal tweaks the project’s footprint and offers more detail.

The proposal promises an “urban and modern” design from Tampa’s Alfonso Architects, with “an array of materials, vertical and horizontal banding and projections, cantilevered balconies and awnings.” It would have about 5,000 square feet of commercial space; a rooftop bar and restaurant; a street-level “urban garden” and “garden bar”; and a north-south pedestrian walkway linking Central and Baum avenues.

The hotel is intended “to feel something like old St. Pete and new St. Pete together,” Daou said.

“It’s really meant to be collectively something that the city would point to as the artistic expression of a city,” he said. “The nicer a hotel is, the more interesting a hotel is, the more people find that this city is interesting.”

This isn’t Daou’s first attempt at building a hotel in the Edge District. In 2019, he led development on an 11-story, 140-room hotel branded under Marriott’s Tribute at the southeast corner of 11th Street and First Avenue N.

At the beginning of 2020, there were around five new hotels planned for downtown St. Pete. When COVID-19 hit, financing for new hotel construction dried up. Most of the proposed hotels were either reconfigured into apartments or scrapped altogether. Only two hotels found a way to move forward.

St. Pete Rising
Oct. 31, 2022

Today, with COVID under control and the world beginning to travel again, hotel financing has opened back up and downtown St. Pete is once again in need of additional hotel rooms.

A new 114-key boutique hotel with a significant food and beverage focus has been proposed for the EDGE District of downtown St. Pete. And once the hotel debuts, it’s expected to be among the most opulent hotels in St. Petersburg.

The 13-story hotel will rise 150 feet above the EDGE District on the corner of Central Avenue and 11th Street near Ilan Averbuch’s Sun on the EDGE roundabout sculpture. The project will have 321 feet of Central Avenue frontage.

The development is being spearheaded by local St. Pete developer Jonathan Daou, President of Eastman Equity. Daou moved to St. Pete in 2014 after spending 20 years in New York City. Once settled in the Sunshine City, Daou began investing in the EDGE District by purchasing derelict storefronts, renovating them, and leasing them to local businesses.

“There really isn’t a great boutique hotel in St. Petersburg,” said Daou. “I want to deliver a space where you walk in and think ‘Wow, I feel lucky to be here.’”

Daou is responsible for bringing many of the EDGE District’s most popular local shops and restaurants to the neighborhood, including Grassroots Kava House, Ashe Couture, Matter of Fact, Intermezzo, and Pizza Box.

With an overall belief in nurturing small businesses and giving them a chance to succeed, Daou will continue to support local establishments in his new hotel, which will include approximately 5,000 square feet of commercial space.

The project will consist of the main hotel tower plus approximately six food and beverage concepts scattered throughout, including a lobby bar, a pool bar on the 2nd floor, and a rooftop bar on the 13th floor with sweeping views of the downtown St. Pete skyline.

The 1940s building that until recently housed Karma Juice Bar & Eatery will not be demolished, but instead be incorporated into the new hotel’s design and occupied by a new full-service restaurant.

On the west side of the project, a standalone bar with a rooftop deck and garden will be constructed.

“I like the idea of the guests having a lot at their fingertips,” said Daou. “And a lot of places to sneak away to and not feel like you’re in a fishbowl.”

Daou has teamed up with Albert Alfonso of Tampa-based Alfonso Architects to bring the project to life. Alfonso’s most recent work includes the stunning 5-story, 137,000-square-foot Museum of the American Arts and Crafts Museum, which opened last year in downtown St. Pete.

“I’m at a point in my career where I just want to do cool projects,” said Alfonso. “We have an opportunity to do something really special. Something that really bursts from the soul of what St. Pete is. This is not going to be a Miami project. It is grounded in St. Pete principles of lifestyle and art.”

Alfonso’s design was inspired by mid-century hotels with Florida breeze block, balconies, and grand sun-filled lobbies. Historic beach cottages also influenced the look of the hotel.

“I have great memories of visiting Pass-a-Grille when I was a child,” said Alfonso. “My family didn’t have a lot of money, but we would rent these incredible cottages. So for me, there is a bit of nostalgia in the project. Additionally, St Pete is a very artistic community and I’m excited to put in three dimensions what St. Pete is all about.”

Phase one of the hotel will be reviewed for consistency with the Intown West Redevelopment Plan (IWRP) by St. Petersburg City Council, meeting as the Community Redevelopment Agency, on Thursday, November 10th. Phase two plans, which include the standalone bar and garden, will be submitted at a later date.

Daou hopes to break ground on the hotel by early 2023 with an opening in the first half of 2024.

Especially on the coasts of the state, the wealthy are increasingly choosing to start their own museums rather than house their collections in someone else’s.

By Geraldine Fabrikant
Oct. 22, 2022

This article is part of our Fine Arts & Exhibits special section on how museums, galleries and auction houses are embracing new artists, new concepts and new traditions.

In 1997, Rudy Ciccarello saw a reproduction of a Gustav Stickley bookcase near his home in Palm Harbor, Fla. Weeks later at an auction he saw an original of the bookcase and was soon taken with works from the American Arts and Crafts movement. From then on he began building a collection that included everything from furniture to pottery and metalwork from the movement.

A retired entrepreneur, Mr. Ciccarello, who made his fortune as the founder of Florida Infusion Services, a pharmaceutical distributor, was determined to create a museum to house the collection.

Over several years, working with the Tampa architect Alberto Alfonso, of Alfonso Architects, he spent about $65 million, Mr. Alfonso said, for a 137,000-square-foot building that included 40,000 square feet of gallery space to create the Museum of the American Arts & Crafts Movement in the heart of St. Petersburg.

Did Mr. Ciccarello ever think about giving all or part of his collection to an existing museum? “Never,” he wrote in an email. “The collection is too important to be left in the care of an institution that may not treasure it and recognize its significance.”

Mr. Ciccarello is hardly alone. Collectors across the country are choosing to start their own museums and perhaps nowhere has this trend been more notable than in Florida: on the Gulf coast as well as the Atlantic coast.

The Atlantic coast has a clutch of relatively new museums. The Rubell Museum, for example, opened in 1993. Miami also boasts the Margulies Collection at the Warehouse, among others, and Dania Beach, near Fort Lauderdale has been the home of the Wiener Museum of Decorative Arts since 2014.

More recently, however, the Gulf coast has followed suit. In St. Petersburg alone, three new museums have opened since 2018. Those include Mr. Ciccarello’s museum as well as the James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art, which houses a collection of Western art largely by living artists. It is the creation of Tom James, chairman emeritus of Raymond James Financial and his wife, Mary. Down the road is the Imagine Museum, home of a glass collection assembled by Trish Duggan, a local philanthropist, to house her own glass collection. Both the James and the Imagine opened in 2018.

St. Petersburg has long been home to the Dali, which opened in 1982. It houses the collection of Reynolds and Eleanor Morse and lures about 400,000 visitors annually. “I think the success of the Dali helped validate St. Petersburg as a destination for new museums,” Mark Ormond, who has served as a curator at various Florida museums, said in an interview. In 2010, the city became home to the Chihuly Collection, featuring the artist’s works and funded by the local philanthropist Beth Morean.

Chris Ballestra, managing director of development for St. Petersburg, noted that the city has been very involved in seeking the right kind of development.

They have reason to. The American Alliance of Museums reports that museums generate over $12 billion in tax revenues, with one-third going to state and local governments.

Certainly, some collectors give all or part of their collections to existing museums, but coming to terms with collectors often means walking a negotiating tightrope. Steven High, executive director of Sarasota’s John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art (also founded by an individual collector), said that museums were always looking at donations, but they had limited space and interest and donors might have dramatic demands. “One person offered us a collection if we would build a new building for it,’’ Mr. High said in a telephone interview. “That was not going to happen.”

Collectors who build their own collections often have firm visions of what they want.

For example, Tom Magoulis, executive director of Mr. Ciccarello’s museum and a longtime business associate, recalled that they had hoped to build the craft museum in Tampa, but there were differences with the city and talks fell apart. Mr. Ciccarello went elsewhere.

“St. Petersburg has been very welcoming,” Mr. Magoulis said. Collectors may also start negotiations in one town and end up in another: often in locations where museums cluster.

George Lucas, the filmmaker, had originally sought to create the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in San Francisco and later in Chicago, cities where he and his wife, Mellody Hobson, have close ties. But when talks stumbled, they went forward with the museum in Los Angeles. As a result, Los Angeles will have two new museums: the Lucas, which is scheduled to open in 2025, and the Broad, which opened in 2015 and was funded by Eli Broad and his wife, Edythe. As for the Lucas: “We are proud that the museum is being built in one of L.A.’s most vibrant neighborhoods: South L.A. — as part of Exposition Park,” Sandra Jackson-Dumont, the Lucas director wrote in an email. It is privately funded, she noted, and will have an endowment.

Whether donors build their museums or give to existing entities, there are appealing tax benefits. If, for example, an investor puts cash or art objects into a foundation, he or she can deduct the value of that cash or art from income taxes over a five-year period, as William Josephson, former head of the New York State Law Department’s Charities Bureau, explained. However, the deduction can never exceed more than 50 percent of the donor’s income each year.

By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Aug. 24, 2022

The mixed-use project will include residential units and office and retail space.

Ybor City’s Alliant Partners has formed a joint venture with Los Angeles-based ELK Development to bring fully furnished micro-units to the historic district.

The joint venture partners bought the properties at 1704 N 17th. St. and 1705 N. 16th St. from Alfonso Architects last week, according to Hillsborough County property records. Principal Carlos Alfonso is also a partner in Alliant Partners.

The partnership has secured a $35 million construction loan from Encore Bank, property records show.

The project, named Miles Ybor, will develop the vacant lot at 1704 N. 17th St. Alfonso Architects’ historic office — originally a rail station built in 1887 — at 1705 N. 16th St. will remain intact. Construction will be complete in the third quarter of 2024.

“We aim to add to the richness and vibrance of historic Ybor with our nods to music in our architectural and interior design,” Evan Kasper, ELK Development founder and CEO, said in a statement. “Our architects have intentionally designed the solo suites and studios to give tenants maximum functionality, flexibility and privacy at the lowest all-in cost.”

The finished development will total 120,000 gross square feet with residential units (a total of 171 beds), retail and office space. The units will be fully furnished and include in-unit laundry machines as well as dishwashers.

Alfonso Architects has preleased 20,000 square feet of office space in the development. The retail space will be divided between a bar and gym, and Alfonso said the developers are already in talks with a tenant to lease the gym space.

Gas Worx developer Darryl Shaw and Missouri-based Holden Family Group are also partners in the project. Barr & Barr is the general contractor, and Alfonso Architects designed the project.

Alfonso told the Tampa Bay Business Journal that the partners see a need for corporate housing in the downtown area and will target health care providers, military contractors and accounting firms.

The individual bedrooms will be secure within each unit, Alfonso said.

“Companies could rent one unit and get four bedrooms,” he said. “It’s substantially cheaper than a hotel.”

By Judi Shade Monk
Jan. 14, 2022

Architecture, Crit, Editor’s Picks, Southeast

On the Florida peninsula’s central west coast, just across the bay from Tampa, is the city of St. Petersburg, a recurring New York Times pick for best places to visit in the world. Indeed, “St. Pete,” as it’s called by locals, has a lot going for it. As the state’s greenest urban center, St. Pete is on track to reach 100 percent renewable energy by 2035. It also boasts a well-established arts community, which has spurred the city’s cultural patrons to invest heavily in pilgrimage-worthy works of architecture. The latest, the Museum of the American Arts and Crafts Movement (MAACM), is arguably the crown jewel of the bunch.

Situated on a 3.2-acre site where downtown meets the Waterfront Arts District, MAACM is the third privately funded cultural institution in St. Pete and houses a renowned collection of American Arts and Crafts objects owned by the Two Red Roses Foundation. Designed by local, Ybor City–based office Alfonso Architects, and brought to life by construction management firm Gilbane, the 137,000-square-foot, $90 million project offers an architecture both sensuous and rational, playful in its suspended white metal shingle–clad geometries and elegant in its proportions and layered, handcrafted materials. The precisely executed detailing never deviates from the overarching design logic; simply put, its consistency and quality are world-class.

The hundreds of small and large works on display feel right at home in this gracious and considered context, which is positively spartan compared with the flowery interiors that exemplified the Arts and Crafts movement. Here, each ornate museum piece—be it pottery, block prints, or painted glass—is afforded the opportunity to shine and be marveled at. The greatest challenge for fellow museum nerds, and particularly for museum nerds who happen to be architects, is pacing oneself as one moves through the 40,000 square feet of galleries. A visit is both exhilarating and mentally exhausting, impossible to complete in a single day.

Mottled black Venetian plaster marks out critical thresholds throughout the interior, offering a counterpoint to the gleaming white shell—also plaster, but looking for all the world like Calacatta marble—of a sculptural stairway that connects the galleries starting on the second floor. A long stretch of the opening gallery is glazed, allowing visitors to orient themselves prior to immersion in the collection. Elsewhere, small openings punctuate the otherwise-opaque exterior envelope. South-facing windows offer views of an ever-increasing number of residential towers, while those on the opposite end of the building frame a bustling low rise commercial corridor and the Crescent Lake water tower, a local landmark since 1924. On the top floor, afternoon sun falling through a clerestory casts a mesmerizing bar of light across the exhibition space.

But one’s itinerary could just as easily begin and end in the soaring full-height atrium, which contains the museum store and a cafe, in addition to administrative offices. From here, it’s possible to admire the spectacular stairway from all angles, including below; its tightly coiled form is a subtle homage to Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s Glasgow Rose motif (titular inspiration for the Two Red Roses Foundation?). The east face of the atrium is clad in walnut acoustic panels, which have clearly been laid with great care. Along the base of the wall is anchored one of the museum’s many gems: an intricate 600-piece mosaic that portrays a calm maritime scene dating to 1914.

Like these architectonic elements, the coffered skylight underscores the architects’ commitment to evoking the ethos, if not the style, of the Arts and Crafts movement. To create the installation, they stacked and offset metal louvers in a manner recalling patterns found in Frank Lloyd Wright’s stained-glass works, examples of which are in MAACM’s collection. (The skylight transept brilliantly conceals a maintenance catwalk.) An expanding and contracting overlay of light and shadow enlivens the atrium’s rich finishes over the course of the day. Museum patrons and the general public are welcome to watch or to dine in the cafe and linger in the comfort of Tulip tables and chairs. Or they might browse the thoughtfully designed and curated gift shop, where daylight is modulated by an exterior cast-in-place concrete brise-soleil.

The scale of the museum both anticipates changes in the urban fabric and responds to the scale of the city’s past, taking confident cues from the historic former Pennsylvania Hotel across the street and the nearby Coliseum Ballroom and Palladium Theater. Given MAACM’s four-sided site, as is typical in car-centric Florida, the design team elected to break up the program into dedicated volumes. The five-story museum block anchors the western edge, while a more diminutive block containing an upscale restaurant and event space acts as a bridge to the parking structure. With its Brazilian granite rainscreen, the museum appears weightier than the mostly glazed restaurant annex, which compensates with a dramatic roof canopy that pins the garage behind it.

Before MAACM opened in September 2021, much of the local media coverage dwelled on the extensive project delays, partly due to COVID-19. A positive spin would foreground the patience and vision that has produced an architectural reminder to not rush something intended to last forever. It’s also a reminder of what an extraordinary client–design team–contractor collaboration can yield and, still more, how regional expertise often exceeds the products of many an anointed starchitect. Just as our universe is packed with constellations, some celebrated for millennia and many more unknown, world-class practitioners in every region are waiting to be seen. We must do better to acknowledge extraordinary practitioners—not as “second-tier starchitects,” as a 2010 article referred to Brad Cloepfil and Allied Works, but as the stars they are when we first catch sight of them. Alfonso Architects’ MAACM makes a most compelling case that our stars are bright in Florida.

By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer  –  Real Estate Editor, Tampa Bay Business Journal
Dec 17, 2021

Hotel Haya is a place that elevates Ybor City on multiple levels.

The design-forward hotel both honors Ybor’s history and is a nod to its future as a destination neighborhood within downtown Tampa. The development team preserved a 103-year-old piece of Ybor history by saving the facade of the Las Novedades building and constructing a new structure within.

Hotel Haya is a new, high-end hotel option for downtown Tampa, but it’s also much more: It joins the ranks of developments like Oxford Exchange and Armature Works as beautiful, photograph-worthy destinations that give Tampa a sense of place.

Key players

Architect: Albert Alfonso, Alfonso Architects
General contractor: EWI Construction, Casey Ellison
Engineer: ICT Engineering, Bennie Pandorf
Financier: Valley National Bank
Owner/developer(s): Alliant Partners, David Robinson; Walson Real Estate, Casey Ellison
Tenant: Aparium Hotel Group, Jordan Star
Other: Batson-Cook, Conn Crabtree

Big numbers

103: Age of the original Las Novedades building

55,000: The number of individual end-grain wooden blocks in the floor sourced from a historic lumber company then installed, stained, and sanded by hand on-site.

$31.7 million: The total project cost for the 140,000-square-foot property

Big numbers

103: Age of the original Las Novedades building

55,000: The number of individual end-grain wooden blocks in the floor sourced from a historic lumber company then installed, stained, and sanded by hand on-site.

$31.7 million: The total project cost for the 140,000-square-foot property

In 1997, Rudy Ciccarello saw a reproduction of a Gustav Stickley bookcase near his home in Palm Harbor, Fla. Weeks later at an auction he saw an original of the bookcase and was soon taken with works from the American Arts and Crafts movement. From then on he began building a collection that included everything from furniture to pottery and metalwork from the movement.

A retired entrepreneur, Mr. Ciccarello, who made his fortune as the founder of Florida Infusion Services, a pharmaceutical distributor, was determined to create a museum to house the collection.

Over several years, working with the Tampa architect Alberto Alfonso, of Alfonso Architects, he spent about $65 million, Mr. Alfonso said, for a 137,000-square-foot building that included 40,000 square feet of gallery space to create the Museum of the American Arts & Crafts Movement in the heart of St. Petersburg.

Did Mr. Ciccarello ever think about giving all or part of his collection to an existing museum? “Never,” he wrote in an email. “The collection is too important to be left in the care of an institution that may not treasure it and recognize its significance.”

Mr. Ciccarello is hardly alone. Collectors across the country are choosing to start their own museums and perhaps nowhere has this trend been more notable than in Florida: on the Gulf coast as well as the Atlantic coast.

The Atlantic coast has a clutch of relatively new museums. The Rubell Museum, for example, opened in 1993. Miami also boasts the Margulies Collection at the Warehouse, among others, and Dania Beach, near Fort Lauderdale has been the home of the Wiener Museum of Decorative Arts since 2014.

More recently, however, the Gulf coast has followed suit. In St. Petersburg alone, three new museums have opened since 2018. Those include Mr. Ciccarello’s museum as well as the James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art, which houses a collection of Western art largely by living artists. It is the creation of Tom James, chairman emeritus of Raymond James Financial and his wife, Mary. Down the road is the Imagine Museum, home of a glass collection assembled by Trish Duggan, a local philanthropist, to house her own glass collection. Both the James and the Imagine opened in 2018.

St. Petersburg has long been home to the Dali, which opened in 1982. It houses the collection of Reynolds and Eleanor Morse and lures about 400,000 visitors annually. “I think the success of the Dali helped validate St. Petersburg as a destination for new museums,” Mark Ormond, who has served as a curator at various Florida museums, said in an interview. In 2010, the city became home to the Chihuly Collection, featuring the artist’s works and funded by the local philanthropist Beth Morean.

Chris Ballestra, managing director of development for St. Petersburg, noted that the city has been very involved in seeking the right kind of development.

They have reason to. The American Alliance of Museums reports that museums generate over $12 billion in tax revenues, with one-third going to state and local governments.

Certainly, some collectors give all or part of their collections to existing museums, but coming to terms with collectors often means walking a negotiating tightrope. Steven High, executive director of Sarasota’s John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art (also founded by an individual collector), said that museums were always looking at donations, but they had limited space and interest and donors might have dramatic demands. “One person offered us a collection if we would build a new building for it,’’ Mr. High said in a telephone interview. “That was not going to happen.”

Collectors who build their own collections often have firm visions of what they want.

For example, Tom Magoulis, executive director of Mr. Ciccarello’s museum and a longtime business associate, recalled that they had hoped to build the craft museum in Tampa, but there were differences with the city and talks fell apart. Mr. Ciccarello went elsewhere.

“St. Petersburg has been very welcoming,” Mr. Magoulis said. Collectors may also start negotiations in one town and end up in another: often in locations where museums cluster.

George Lucas, the filmmaker, had originally sought to create the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in San Francisco and later in Chicago, cities where he and his wife, Mellody Hobson, have close ties. But when talks stumbled, they went forward with the museum in Los Angeles. As a result, Los Angeles will have two new museums: the Lucas, which is scheduled to open in 2025, and the Broad, which opened in 2015 and was funded by Eli Broad and his wife, Edythe. As for the Lucas: “We are proud that the museum is being built in one of L.A.’s most vibrant neighborhoods: South L.A. — as part of Exposition Park,” Sandra Jackson-Dumont, the Lucas director wrote in an email. It is privately funded, she noted, and will have an endowment.

Whether donors build their museums or give to existing entities, there are appealing tax benefits. If, for example, an investor puts cash or art objects into a foundation, he or she can deduct the value of that cash or art from income taxes over a five-year period, as William Josephson, former head of the New York State Law Department’s Charities Bureau, explained. However, the deduction can never exceed more than 50 percent of the donor’s income each year.