ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. — St. Pete Beach spent years and millions of dollars upgrading its leaky sewer system, which has recently allowed city leaders to approve the first major development project since the building moratorium was put into place in 2016.

"I'm very excited. I think the residents are excited," said Jennifer McMahon, St. Pete Beach COO. "I think people who have been waiting for some development are excited as well."

On March 8, commissioners unanimously approved giving 150 dwelling units from the city's residential pool reserve to a mixed-use, luxury apartment complex, called Corey Landing, that's being developed by Ram Realty Advisors. 

"I think a lot of developers were waiting to see how that process would go," said McMahon "Then, I think we'll see some other projects coming up soon." 

The $120 million project will include a seven story tall building that wraps around the parking garage, with 243 multi-family units, 12,000 square feet of retail space and 5,000 square feet of restaurant space. Corey Landing sits on nearly four acres of waterfront property at the east end of Corey Avenue and will also have commercial docks.

"We are making our city walkable," said McMahon. "The walkability will get people to be able to experience what the city has to offer."

The major development was only possible because the city has just about completed a $16 million sewer system upgrade that put most new construction on hold over the past 6 years.

"We are extremely pleased to be closing in on the final month of pipe work," said Mike Clarke, St. Pete Beach Public Works Dir. "Looking forward to the final paving of Gulf Boulevard and its restoration next month in April." 

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection placed the city under a consent order in 2014, for causing sewage to spill onto the streets and into Boca Ciega Bay. In 2016, city commissioners adopted a moratorium on new development until the sewer capacity was increased.

"At the time, our mayor felt it necessary to do a moratorium on our sewer system. So we can get them fixed before we had any growth," said McMahon. ​"We have found areas of our sewer system that actually didn't even exist. It was the flow that was keeping it going. The actual pipes weren't even there." 

The city has completely bypassed the old gravity sewer line from 1 Pass-A-Grille Way, north to 37th Avenue, near Hotel Zamora. All the flow from that area has been transferred into the new force main line. 

"The gravity main at that point is essentially dry, where it used to be full," said Clarke. "The gravity main is significantly reduced because that flow is all now in the force main."​

Clarke said from 37th Avenue, north to 87th Avenue, where the master pump station is located, the city will use both the gravity and force main lines. Sewage from the beach hotels will flow into the force main, while sewage from the neighborhoods east of Gulf Boulevard will remain flowing into the gravity line.

"The island's kind of divided between the east and west," said Clarke. "In the end, we'll have both pipes in commission. The force main will take the flows from the south and the beach. The gravity pipe will continue to take the flows from the neighborhoods." 

The master pump station discharges the sewage off the island and into the City of St. Petersburg's system. Along with miles of new pressurized pipes, the city also installed four new lift stations.

"The original sewer system was put in by Long Key Sewer Authority back around 1959," Clarke said. "It served us well for six decades but it's no longer large enough to carry the amount of flows."

The improved sewer system has allowed St. Pete Beach to welcome back developers and McMahon said she expects to get more applications.

"There are some hotels that want to redevelop," she said. "A lot of mixed use that I think is going to be coming up in a lot of our areas too."