Alright guys – it’s time I sit down to actually write out an idea Iv’e had floating around in my mind for far too long. LET’S GET THE REAL NEED-TO-KNOW INFO ABOUT APARTMENTS IN ST. PETERSBURG and we’re starting with Beacon430.
Since moving to St. Pete, I’ve had the pleasure of visiting and touring a lot of the apartments here and with so many looking to potentially move to the area (highly recommend!) I felt it was high time to put together a series of posts giving people the need-to-know info about the apartments in Downtown St. Petersburg, Florida.
So, as I set out to start God’s work, I reached out to friends and people in the community to get genuine feedback on each of the apartment complexes I cover. I plan to write a post for each complex that offers the good, the bad, and anything in-between. First up? A special place in my heart, Beacon430.
Beacon430 Fast Facts:
- Address: 430 3rd Ave S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701
- Layouts available: 1, 2, and 3 bedroom units
- Rent: *as of July 2020, about $1,306 -$3,434+ ranging from a 1,279 sq ft
- Dog friendly? Yes! One time fee + monthly pet rent $20-$40.
- Parking details: Street parking with a permit or gated covered garage
- Distance to St. Pete Beach: 8 miles/16 minutes with light traffic
- Distance to Downtown Tampa: 24 miles/25 min with light traffic
- Distance to nightlife (party block as I call it): 0.4 miles/8 min walk
- Closest Publix: Publix Super Market at University Village, 250 3rd St S, St. Petersburg 0.2 miles/4 min walk
- Closest Coffee Shop: Kahwa 204 2nd Ave S, St. Petersburg 0.3 miles/5 min walk
Alright, so now that we got the “googleable” info conveniently gathered for you in one place – let’s talk personal takes on Beacon430. This Downtown St. Pete apartment complex was where I called home when Tyler and I first moved to the dtsp area. Though I was looking and looking and nothing felt “right.” It was really hard balancing the price vs. the location vs. the amenities at of a lot of these complexes. It felt like everywhere I looked was just SO small and very expensive. I remember talking to my mom and she said, “if it doesn’t feel right, you just haven’t found the right fit” and she encouraged me to keep looking.
At that point, I started just driving around the area (which was super new and scary to me at the time – what were all of these one-way streets doing?!) and found Beacon430. How had I not seen this gem before?! It turns out that for whatever reason, the complex was not listed on the various apps I had been using to guide my apartment search.
Beacon430: What is it really like living there?
Tyler and I lived in Beacon430’s 1 bedroom/1 bathroom for about a year and later expanded to a 2 bedroom/2bathroom when my sister moved in with us. My sister still lives in the complex and is now enjoying her own studio unit – so Iv’e seen my share of units in this complex.
Ok – so let’s talk vibe. Beacon430 offered a lot of great amenities and a lot of great people. It was a younger community but didn’t have a “dormish” feel like some other complexes did. I would say we used the amenities quite often – I would go to the pool a lot and was able to throw some great pool parties there. Because the pool was distanced from the office, we didn’t have noise complaints and everyone was able to blast music and drink whiteclaws until the sun went down. I mention this because other complexes I will cover in this series have a more subdued pool vibe that may or may not be more of what you’re looking for. For us, Beacon430 was the perfect place to introduce Gary, our giant flamingo.
Garry and I chilling at Beacon430
Beacon430 also had a great gym that included pretty much every machine you could need. However, my husband did lament about there not being a free weight set-up. The gym offers floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking downtown and even had a boxing bag – a nice touch I didn’t find in other complex’s gyms. Additionally, there is a great entertaining room with a kitchen and private bath that was open to the residents and could be reserved if desired.
Finally, Beacon430 offers a great conference room on the fourth floor and a ground floor library common area that was vastly underutilized and served as the perfect place for Tyler to spend approximately 531,985,934 hours studying for the Florida Bar.
What we loved:
The office staff and community members were all very friendly. There was a lot of fun to be had but the complex also offered spaces to work uninterrupted outside of your unit. The finishes in the units were all modern and we appreciated the granite countertops and dark wood flooring. With the location offering a Publix, a coffeeshop, a CVS and bars all within easy walking distance, we definitely enjoyed the location.
What we didn’t love so much:
Though we enjoyed the convenience of Beacon430’s location, there was a lot of foot traffic from the bars at night by both tenants and othes leaving the outside of the complex somewhat littered with trash. If you had a unit on the outside of the complex like ours, you could often hear revelers late at night returning after a long night out. Though Beacon430 was pet friendly, I did wish they had a dog washing station and a larger dog park. Because we were surrounded by sidewalks, the small dog park with turf in place of real grass wasn’t THE most ideal.
Additionally, don’t get me wrong – Beacon430 is kept up quite nicely and we hardly EVER had any maintenance issues, however now looking back, I can say that the complex isn’t spruced up as often as other complexes in the area. It was always clean but not SPARKLING – does that make sense?
Would we recommend Beacon430 to a friend?
Yes! I think Beacon430 continues to be a competitively priced complex that errors on the side of a lower price if you are looking for a small unit downtown. Though it’s a bit of a longer walk from Central (where many boutiques, bars and restaurants are) Beacon430 is situated in an incredibly walkable area which is what many might be looking for if they are looking to move downtown.
