NEW YORK – New York’s Red Apple Real Estate founder John Catsimatidis, Sr’s vision to make St. Petersburg, Florida a destination for businesses and residents wanting a sky-high address is getting closer to reality.

The Residences at 400 Central, as it’s called, is getting ready to hit a construction benchmark with the pouring of  6,500 cubic yards of concrete for the 46-story tower that will take up a whole block in the city, said the Tampa Bay Business Journal.

The project is also being overseen bu his son, John Catsimatidis Jr., Executive Vice-President and Chief Investment Officer of Red Apple Group, following in his father’s big footsteps in the real estate development world.

“When I was going to college and driving around New York City, there were certain buildings that made me say, ‘Wow, I want to live there,’” Catsimatidis Sr. Told the news site. “I want every building I build at the age of 70 plus to be a ‘wow’ building and something that I’ll be proud of,” he said.

The mixed-use residential tower will have 301 luxury condominiums, restaurants, shops and approximately 40,000 square feet of Class A office space and is estimated to cost $400 million and be 515 feet tall.

It will have views of the Gulf of Mexico and Tampa Bay. At the top of the building will be the Sky Lounge Observatory and be the the tallest residential building on the west coast of Florida, the report said.

The plans for 40,000 square feet of office space could be doubled and Catsimatidis, Sr. said most of the planned office space has already been leased but wouldn’t name the tenants.

He said that said sales have “picked up dramatically” and expects more after getting permission to advertise in New York, noting that the city is selling apartments for a third of the price of those in other spots in Florida, such as Miami and Naples.

in the last few weeks. He also received permission a few weeks ago to advertise in New York, which he said will keep the momentum going.

He purchased the penthouse at The Residences at 400 Central for his family as they want to continue to live and invest in the city where his family has deep ties and plans to make a statue of his wife’s mother and place it in the lobby of the building. They also want to work with local artists and feature their work on the site.