March 06, 2020

St. Pete approves new park under I-375 and MLK Jr Street in Historic Uptown

March 06, 2020/ Anthony Close

Amid the rapid growth and development of Downtown St. Pete there is often concern about the preservation of green space and public amenities. While the City of St. Petersburg boasts a vast network of over 150 public parks, there are fewer open spaces in Downtown St. Pete’s western neighborhoods like the EDGE District or along Dr. MLK Jr Street. However, that may soon change thanks to a handful of proactive community members who spoke up about the dearth of public green space in the area.

Last week, St. Pete’s City Council voted to authorize $450,000 for the creation of a new city park on a patch of underutilized land situated under an I-375 overpass at the corner of 5th Avenue North and Dr. MLK Jr Street North.

February 24, 2020

Indie Movie Theater Coming Soon to Downtown St. Pete

February 24, 2020/ Brian Zucker

A few weeks ago, a South Korean film titled Parasite won Best Picture at The Oscars. It was the first time a foreign-language film won the Academy’s most prestigious honor in it’s 92 year history.

Although the award-winning film slowly rolled out to US theaters starting last October, it never hit screens in St. Pete until this month. Parasite had a traditional art house platform release in the United States. And guess how many art house cinemas we have in St. Pete? Zero.

To be honest, the only reason why the film eventually opened in St. Pete theaters at all is because it swept the Academy Awards. The reality is that Tampa Bay routinely misses out on small-scale movies because the area lacks indie movie theaters.

February 13, 2020

Three Story Food Hall Coming to Former Dome Grill Space on Central Ave

February 13, 2020/ Brianna Rodriguez

A new food hall on Central Avenue is in the works, which will serve as a central hub for local health-conscious foodies and culinary experts alike.

What was most recently the Dome Grill at 551 Central Avenue, will soon undergo a 24,000 square foot renovation into Central Park Food Hall. The project is expected to open summer 2021.

The building was purchased in June 2018 by Mark and Natalia Levey. The owners plan to keep some of the historical elements of the building while also adding in modern architecture.

February 12, 2020

Downtown Developments Feb 2020: A Handful of Restaurants Announced for St Pete and More!

February 12, 2020/ Brian Zucker

There’s never a dull moment in Downtown St. Petersburg! Along with the updates below, we had a few new businesses open their doors, including an athletic facility, a barbershop and a leasing office. Also, an urban farm and a coffee shop announced expansions. Lastly, we were in a magazine, we launched a new aerial photography column, and we looked ahead to 2020.

As many of you are aware, we write a column every month called Downtown Developments for Green Bench Monthly, a local community magazine. In the column, we highlight everything coming soon to Downtown St. Pete, including new restaurants, bars, and coffee shops. We also reveal new tower renderings, announce townhome projects, and much more. A few months ago, we started publishing that column right here on St. Pete Rising, in addition to Green Bench Monthly!

February 11, 2020

Affordable Townhomes Proposed South of Downtown St. Pete

February 11, 2020/ Anthony Close

One of the critiques of all of the housing developments being constructed in Downtown St. Pete is that much of it isn’t affordable for households making the area median income, which in St. Pete equates to about $58,000. With a few exceptions, most of the new residential units being built downtown are priced over $500,000, a figure that’s simply not attainable for many families.

The reason cheaper units aren’t being built isn’t because there’s not a market for them. There are a number of variables that go into pricing new residential units. Prices are largely a product of construction costs and land prices, among other factors. Since construction costs have increased nationally, as have land prices in Downtown St. Pete, this has led to increasing costs to build residential units in the downtown area.

February 07, 2020

AD Lofts to Bring More Retail and Residential to Grand Central District

February 07, 2020/ Brian Zucker

The Grand Central District is really heating up. On the eastern edge of the neighborhood, at the corner of 16th Street and Central Avenue, four large developments are about to wrap up construction and bring an additional 132 hotel rooms and 700 rental units to market — Tru by Hilton, Artistry St. Pete, 1701 Central, and Vantage.

On the western end of The Grand Central District, around 30th Street and Central Avneue, two apartment communities have been recently proposed — Gallery 3100 and a project tentatively titled “2800 Central Ave”. Those developments would add 200 apartments to the neighborhood.

Other major developments under construction in the district include the Grand Central Brewhouse at 2324 Central Avenue and Six Point Row, a 19-unit townhome community currently rising at 2611 1st Avenue North.

February 06, 2020

Submissions Revealed for the Redevelopment of St. Pete’s Municipal Services Center

February 06, 2020/ Anthony Close

In December, St. Pete Rising announced that the City of St. Petersburg had received an unsolicited offer to purchase and redevelop the Municipal Services Center at 1 Fourth Street in Downtown St. Pete.

The Municipal Services Center, or MSC for short, is an 11-story city-owned office building that primarily houses City of St. Pete services such as the planning department, code enforcement, and parking management. The building has millions of dollars in deferred maintenance and as a result the City has been exploring ways to renovate or build a new Municipal Services Center.

As a refresher, the New York-based Property Markets Group (PMG) offered the City $12 million for the 0.8 acre lot that sits along Central Avenue between 3rd Streets and 4th Streets. Under their proposal, PMG would construct a new MSC building across from City Hall on 2nd Avenue North, about two blocks away. The new MSC building would contain 100,000 square feet of Class A office space along with 220 apartments and parking.

February 04, 2020

Station House is Coming Soon to Sundial Shopping Center

February 04, 2020/ Brian Zucker

The folks behind one of Downtown St Pete’s most popular coworking space have their sights set on expansion. The concept first debuted in Downtown St Pete in 2016 and has since expanded to the EDGE District of St Pete and Hyde Park Village in Tampa. Recently, a Station House outpost was announced for the EDGE Collective, a mixed-use project featuring a food hall, hotel, and coworking space in Downtown St Pete.

Now, the creators behind St. Pete’s Station House are developing a space exclusively for Sundial St. Pete. The 8,300 square foot project will offer a dynamic mix of co-work and event space in a fun, vibrant lifestyle environment. The new concept will encompass the prime space on the second level of Sundial next to Ruth’s Chris Steak House.

January 28, 2020

18-story Condo Tower, Reflection, to Rise Above Mirror Lake

January 28, 2020/ Anthony Close

Fred Hemmer has lived in St. Petersburg for most of his life, and while he wasn’t born here, he calls St. Pete his home. After graduating from Boca Ciega High School he went on to study at St. Petersburg College and then the University of South Florida. Over the past few decades he has worked in banking and in real estate throughout Florida and has witnessed Downtown St. Pete’s transformation firsthand. Recently he even become a downtown resident himself.

After selling his Tierra Verde home, Hemmer and his wife moved into Camden Pier District, an 18-story apartment building in Downtown St. Pete. And although they traded their waterfront home for a high-rise, they viewed the move as an upgrade, “Downtown has so much entertainment to offer,” Hemmer says, “We were tired of always driving downtown and figured, ‘Why not just move there?’”

January 22, 2020

Medical Marijuana Dispensary Opening in the EDGE District

January 22, 2020/ Anthony Close

Downtown St. Pete’s growing EDGE District is set to gain a new business looking to capitalize on an expanding Florida industry. AltMed LLC, a Florida-based medical marijuana company, is slated to open a MÜV dispensary at 1101 1st Avenue North.

MÜV will offer an extensive selection of medical marijuana products including flower, pre-rolls, a wide range of vaporizer pens, topicals, oral sprays, and more. One of MÜV's more unique products are 72-hour Transdermal Patches, which are simply medicated patches, and Metered Dose Inhalers which feature patent-pending encapsulation technology, basically an inhaler with medical marijuana.