The Pier Selection Committee met on Friday to rank a minimum of three pier design concepts.

After a 12 hour meeting, which included discussion of the concepts and public comment, the committee eliminated four of the seven teams.

Members ranked the designs of their top three in the order of:

  1. Alma
  2. Destination St. Pete Pier
  3. Pier Park 

However, the motion to rank the designs in that order failed during a vote.

"Why can't this committee reach a decision? The dialogue expounded by committee members answers that question," said Michael Conners, Chair, Pier Selection Committee.

The meeting will be extended to a future date to allow members to ask the finalists more questions.

Destination St. Pete Pier was the overwhelming favorite in an online survey. Alma was ranked 5th in that survey.

The committee meeting was covered live on Twitter at @BN9:

8:30 p.m.: Motion fails to rank top three designs, meeting extended to future date.

6 p.m. Prospect Pier has been ranked No. 4. Designs that remain are Destination St. Pete Pier, ALMA and Pier Park. #StPetePier

4:47 p.m. rePier eliminated from shortlist. Designs that remain are Prospect Pier, Destination St. Pete Pier, ALMA and Pier Park. #StPetePier

4:28 p.m. Blue Pier eliminated from shortlist. Five designs remain. #StPetePier

4:15 p.m. Committee discussing elimination of Blue Pier from shortlist. #StPetePier

4:11 p.m. Discover Bay Life eliminated from shortlist. #StPetePier

4:09 p.m. Other committee members agree with the removal of Discover Bay Life, but not Pier Park. #StPetePier

4:06 p.m. Architect James Jackson moves to strike Discover Bay Life and Pier Park. #StPetePier

4:00 p.m. Committee is now moving onto preliminary shortlisting of #StPetePier designs.

2:03 p.m. So far, a lot of praise for Destination St. Pete. #StPetePier

1:57 p.m. Next up: Destination St. Pete, which was by far the top choice in the public survey. #StPetePier

1:48 p.m. Concerns about reuse of inverted pyramid have been raised several times throughout the meeting. #StPetePier

1:28 p.m. Melanie Lenz brings up potential for the landscaping of rePier to become an eyesore in discussion of operational costs. #StPetePier

1:25 p.m. Committee is moving on to rePier, which is another design that keeps the inverted pyramid. #StPetePier

1:09 p.m. The Pier Park came in second in the city's unscientific public poll. #StPetePier

1:01 p.m. Committee members praising the variety of activities, environmental education centers of the Pier Park design. #StPetePier

11:48 a.m. Three hours into meeting, two concepts discussed. Five more to go. #StPetePier

11:44 a.m. Prospect Pier doesn't appear to be a favorite among committee members. #StPetePier

11:30 a.m. Biking and walking would be primary source of transportation at Prospect Pier. Tram/trolley also available. #StPetePier

11:15 a.m. Fans of Prospect Pier like that it preserves iconic inverted pyramid design. #StPetePier

11:11 a.m. Lack of shade on roof cited as a weakness of Prospect Pier, as is lack of development on land side. #StPetePier

11:05 a.m. Committee members divided on Prospect Pier, which retains inverted pyramid. #StPetePier

11:01 a.m. Next up is Prospect Pier. #StPetePier

10:55 a.m. ALMA design doesn't particularly address bike or watercraft rentals. Retail space would eat into space for other uses. #StPetePier

10:54 a.m. ALMA given marks for event space that's flexible, can be used for banquets, performances and dance hall. #StPetePier

10:50 a.m. City has received a $680k grant for courtesy docks in central basin. #StPetePier

10:46 a.m. Alma gets high marks for dedicated fishing pier. It separates fishing from pedestrians while allowing people to watch. #StPetePier

10:43 a.m. Transportation weakest part of Alma. Question comes down to car vs. no car. #StPetePier

10:35 a.m. Alma gets high marks for dining options, including restaurant on uplands. #StPetePier

10:30 a.m. Committee members say ALMA - with 150 foot tower - is strong when it comes to views, observation areas. #StPetePier

10:26 a.m. Technical review of each presentation looks at budget, permits, operation costs, environmental awareness, programmatic desires. #StPetePier

10:19 a.m. Each agenda item followed by opportunity for public comment, 3 minutes max. #StPetePier

10:16 a.m. After discussion of each design, agenda calls for: prelim shortlisting, shortlisting, prelim final 3 ranking, final ranking. #StPetePier

10:11 a.m. Committee, audience watching video presentations of ALMA design. #StPetePier

9:39 a.m. Ballestra called outreach a fun way to engage public, unprecedented. #StPetePier

9:37 a.m. Public survey gave highest ranking to Destination St Pete Pier. #StPetePier

9:35 a.m. People were sincerely engaged with #StPetePier project, outreach campaign found.

9:34 a.m. Signs, billboards, booths at Saturday Morning Market, utility bills, newspapers, police officers all part of outreach efforts. #StPetePier

9:33 a.m. Chris Ballestra with city development to discuss public survey results, outreach efforts. #StPetePier

9:30 a.m. Blue Pier looks to create an environment that merges environmental and urban sensibilities. #StPetePier

9:25 a.m. Discover Bay Life has three elements: Bay Life Park, Pier and a marine discovery center. #StPetePier

9:22 a.m. Destination St. Pete Pier would modernize inverted pyramid and include space for dining, expanded Spa Beach.#StPetePier

9:19 a.m. rePier would keep what was best about inverted pyramid - the shape - while bringing in a more ecological sensibilty. #StPetePier

9:16 a.m. Pier Park would keep portions of inverted pyramid, aims to be a 21st century public place with room for variety of activities. #StPetePier

9:12 a.m. Prospect Pier is a re-imagining of the inverted pyramid. #StPetePier

9:10 a.m. Evaluating #StPetePier designs now. Alma design highlights view of city.

9:00 a.m. Million Dollar Pier mentioned for its programmatic flexibility, allowing for a variety of activities. #StPetePier

8:58 a.m. Study found that none of the designs were "must see." To be "must see" they need attributes that bring people to them. #StPetePier

8:54 a.m. Economic analysis also discusses fishing, docks for motorized and non-motorized watercraft, environmental education center. #StPetePier

8:49 a.m. Analysis also mentioned as key to success: local traffic coming to #StPetePier. Tourists will follow.

8:30 a.m. The #StPetePier design final selection meeting is about to get underway.

Here's a snapshot of pros and cons of each design:

Blue Pier

  • 3.5 acres of lagoons could cause permit problems
  • No space for dining, which is considered a must
  • Ranked lowest for revenue potential

Discover Bay Life Pier

  • Keeps inverted pyramid
  • Ranked low for revenue
  • Concerned about the sustainability of the building design and sea salt spray

rePier

  • Keeps inverted pyramid
  • Will have air condition spaces, something Pier Committee wants
  • Third lowest for operational costs, but high for capital costs

Alma

  • Low maintenance and low capital costs
  • High revenue expected
  • Waterfront restaurant could be hard to permit because of existing sea grasses

Destination St. Pete Pier

  • Keeps inverted pyramid
  • Only proposal that allows vehicles to drive on the approach
  • Mid-range ranking for revenue because committee says not enough leasable space

Prospect Pier

  • High operational costs
  • Renovate the inverted pyramid including space for a restaurant, retail
  • Dropped plans for a 5-acre park because of budget

 Pier Park

  • Potential permit problems because of the size and over-water coverage
  • Team expected to make it smaller when presenting this time

Last week, St. Petersburg officials released the results of a survey on which of seven designs for the new Pier residents like most.

The St. Pete Design Group's Destination St. Pete Pier received the most votes at 10,751. The proposal keeps and expands the existing pyramid and surrounds it with contemporary elements, multi-leveled layers of shade and a waterfall.

The Pier Park came in a distant second with 6,800 votes followed by the Blue Pier design with 4,700.

The results were non-binding, but Mayor Rick Kriseman's Pier Selection Committee said they would consider the numbers when deciding which design teams would stay in the running for the $46 million project.

State law requires the committee to rank no fewer than three teams. The City Council will vote on the design April 2nd.

Voters rejected the Lens design in 2013.