Construction has officially started on The Kimball at Rocky Point, a 14-story, 296-unit luxury apartment tower rising at 3075 N. Rocky Point Dr. E in Tampa. The project will replace the now-defunct, 160-key Chase Suite Hotel, whose 1980s-era buildings are set for demolition in the coming weeks.
The development comes from Charlotte-based Northwood Ravin, which purchased the 4.58-acre site for $21.5 million in 2024, according to Florida YIMBY. The site sits in Hillsborough County on Tampa's Rocky Point peninsula, a narrow waterfront strip near Tampa International Airport that has spent decades hosting low-slung extended-stay hotels and commercial buildings. Property records reviewed by Berkadia, which marketed the property on behalf of seller Hardage Hospitality, show the Chase Suite Hotel dated to 1986 and comprised 12 two-story buildings totaling 160 suites before it was pitched to buyers as a prime waterfront teardown. The final sale figure, per Social Design House, worked out to roughly $4.68 million per acre.
What's Rising on the Old Hotel Site
Once complete, the tower will offer studio to three-bedroom apartments and penthouses aimed at young entrepreneurs, growing families, and work-from-home professionals, per the same Florida YIMBY report. Selected top-floor residences will come with private rooftop decks. Amenities include an expansive resort-style swimming pool and deck, a double-height fitness center, pickleball and sand volleyball courts, and a private 14-slip marina for residents.
Structural engineering on the 14-story build is being led by EM Structural in partnership with general contractor Cline Construction, the article notes. Coastal high-rise projects like this one typically require specialized engineering for foundation support, flood elevation, and wind exposure along the waterfront, a factor EM Structural has cited in its work on the project. Northwood Ravin also tapped Charlotte-based creative agency Social Design House this year to build the branding, naming, and marketing strategy for the property.
A Developer Doubling Down on the Same Block
This isn't Northwood Ravin's first swing on this stretch of East Rocky Point Drive. The company already built The Emerson at Rocky Point next door at 3015 N. Rocky Point Dr. E, an 11-story, 180-unit luxury tower completed in 2022 with a rooftop lounge, resort pool, and 12-slip boat dock, according to CorporateHousing.com. Between the two projects, the firm now controls two adjacent waterfront high-rises on the same block. Northwood Ravin, which is headquartered in Charlotte and led by CEO David Ravin, operates with more than 400 associates, manages over 10,000 apartment units, and has developed more than $6 billion in multifamily projects across nine metro areas, per Social Design House. In Tampa alone, the developer's portfolio also includes Varela Westshore and Novus Westshore in the nearby Westshore Business District, Tampa's largest commercial office hub.
Rocky Point's Broader Hotel-to-High-Rise Wave
The Kimball is one piece of a much larger transformation underway on Rocky Point, where aging hotels and single-use commercial buildings are increasingly giving way to luxury residential towers. Nearby, the 1978 Rusty Pelican restaurant at 2425 N. Rocky Point Dr. is slated for demolition to make way for the $187 million, 21-story Residences at Rocky Point, a 252-unit project from Costis-Lifsey Development and American Land Ventures expected to break ground in early 2027, according to Tampa Bay Business & Wealth.
Just down the peninsula, the storm-battered Godfrey Hotel property has sat closed since suffering severe damage in Hurricane Helene, with developers floating concepts for up to three new towers combining hotel rooms and residential units, as Hoodline reported in its bayfront ghost hotel coverage. Together, the projects illustrate how storm damage and rising land values are pushing developers toward taller, denser waterfront housing across the peninsula.
That density boom is also forcing infrastructure catch-up. As high-rises multiply along Rocky Point, the City of Tampa has planned new sidewalk connections along the peninsula's south side to close long-standing pedestrian gaps, according to a post from Tampa Bay Developer on Facebook. The peninsula has historically suffered from car-centric development with disconnected walkways, even as its population density climbs alongside projects like The Kimball.
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