July 05, 2020

The 26-acre St Pete Pier district opens with restaurants and activities abound

July 05, 2020/ Brian Zucker

It’s fascinating to think about how long the new St. Pete Pier has been in discussion. The first conversations began way back in 2004, when the City of St. Petersburg found that the pier structure’s upkeep cost too much and could no longer be funded. As a result, a new pier would have to replace the existing inverted pyramid pier.

Do you remember where you were in 2004? The President of the United States was George W. Bush and Barack Obama was still a little-known State Senator from Illinois. The top grossing movie of 2004 was Shrek 2. The top song of the year was Usher’s “Yeah!” featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris. And the founder of St. Pete Rising, Anthony Close, was in 5th grade.

Downtown St. Petersburg has also a changed significantly since 2004. Many of Beach Drive’s soaring condo towers hadn’t been erected yet, including Ovation, Parkshore Plaza, 400 Beach, and Signature Place. The Chihuly Experience wouldn’t open for another six years, The Dali Museum for another seven.

June 24, 2020

Driftwood on Central to bring mixed-use townhomes to St. Pete's Grand Central District

June 24, 2020/ Anthony Close

There was a time not too long ago that the Grand Central District was largely known for legacy shops like Haslam’s Book Store and antique stores. While great, many people, including some locals, considered the Grand Central District an afterthought behind the bustling downtown core. But a lot has changed in the past few years, and recently, new businesses have brought new energy to the area.

While the district is still much quieter than the downtown core, the Grand Central District has come into an identity of its own with trendy coffee shops like Black Crow and Bandit, and unique bars like Trophy Fish and Dog Bar. Bolstered by a demand of retail space, the district has also seen an increase in new residential and commercial development. In essence, the Grand Central District has become a destination in its own right.

June 22, 2020

Toss Salads and Wraps Brings Affordable, Healthy Food to Downtown St. Pete

June 22, 2020/ Stephanie Stott

If your wallet cries every time you crave something healthy and delicious, don't worry—we have some news to make it smile.

Opening today at 600 1st Avenue North, Toss Salads & Wraps is ushering in a wave of tasty, nutritious, and affordable food in downtown St. Pete. With prices from $6.99 to $10.99 (and a little extra if you add more to your salad), Toss proves that eating healthy doesn’t have to break the bank.

The concept behind Toss is simple: a “builder” gathers your ingredients and hands them to a “chopper,” who dices the food and mixes them in a bowl. Sandwich lovers, rejoice! Each salad can be rolled into a wrap as well—for $0.30 less! Each order is customizable, hand-crafted to your taste buds, so feel free to add quinoa, avocado, mozzarella balls, and more to your heart’s content.

June 19, 2020

Valhalla Bakery to open doughnut shop in Downtown St. Pete

June 19, 2020/ Brian Zucker

Miami has The Salty Donut, Chicago has Stan’s, Portland has Voodoo Doughnut (although I like Blue Star better) and New York City has a ton of doughnut shops, but my personal favorite is the Doughnut Plant. But where is St. Pete’s downtown doughnut shop?

Celine Duvoisin, owner of Valhalla Bakery in the Grand Central District, and Steven Brinkman noticed a hole in the doughnut market too. “Ever since Valhalla Bakery opened at the end of 2018, we’ve had such an outpouring of support from the St. Pete community,” says Duvoisin. “And by far our most asked question is ‘When will you have doughnuts?’”

For National Doughnut Day on June 5th, Valhalla Bakery made a special batch of 500 doughnuts. When the doors opened in the morning, there was a line down the street and they were completely sold out in less than an hour.

June 17, 2020

Spitfire Theater opens expanded space for improv comedy in the Grand Central District

June 17, 2020/ Brian Zucker

Let’s be honest. This year has been rough. And not just for some of us, but for everyone. At this point, I think it’s safe to say we could all use a good laugh. And what better way to blow off steam and relax than to experience live comedy!

Spitfire Theater, St. Pete’s home for improv comedy, will host their first shows in almost 300 days this weekend at their new and expanded theater located at 1920 1st Avenue South in the Grand Central District. The new space is steps away from Pinellas Ale Works, Cage Brewing, and Hideaway Cafe.

May 31, 2020

Naked Farmer debuts farm-fresh bowls at 200 Central in Downtown St. Pete

May 31, 2020/ Brian Zucker

Imagine having a dream of owning your own business. For years, decades even, you throw ideas around in your head of what your future venture might look like. Until one day, you conjure up the perfect concept. And you finally decide to take a leap of faith and make your dream a reality.

So you spend months upon months sketching out a business plan, deciding on a clever name, employing a branding company, finding an excellent location, hiring the right staff, etc. You get the picture. And then weeks before your grand opening, a pandemic brings the world to its knees and life as we know it shuts down.

This is essentially what the past few months has been like for Jordan Johnson, owner of Naked Farmer, a new farm-fresh restaurant located at 200 Central Avenue, which was scheduled to open to the public on April 1st in Downtown St. Pete.

May 20, 2020

Italy Bottega brings a taste of Italy to Central Avenue

May 20, 2020/ Brianna Rodriguez

Imagine driving through the rolling hills of Tuscany in your 2013 Fiat Panda when your stomach starts to rumble. You pull off the road and stroll into a small café for a buttery, flaky croissant and a warm caffé latte. While enjoying your traditional Italian colazione (or breakfast), you begin to think…Life sure is good!

Well, I can’t promise that exact scene here in St. Pete, but a new market and café offering up an authentic taste of Italy is opening very soon in the EDGE District. And although it won’t beat the Bel Paese (or beautiful country) itself, we’re hoping it’ll be a close second.

May 13, 2020

Gallery 3100, a 122-unit apartment building, breaks ground in the Grand Central District

May 13, 2020/ Anthony Close

A new apartment building recently broke ground in the Grand Central District at 3100 Central Avenue. Named Gallery 3100, the four-story project will be located on a site which formerly housed a SunTrust Bank building. The project is a joint-venture between St. Pete-based Mosaic Development and the Brookview Companies.

“We are officially under construction! We have demolished the former bank building, cleared the site, and have started environmental soil remediation. There is a lot of construction activity to look forward to,” says Roxanne Amoroso, Principal of Mosaic Development.

May 07, 2020

Plans for the redevelopment of Downtown St. Pete’s MSC building move forward

May 07, 2020/ Anthony Close

Back in December, St. Pete Rising reported that the City of St. Pete received an unsolicited offer from New York-based development firm Property Markets Group (PMG) to purchase and redevelop the Municipal Services Center at 1 Fourth Street in Downtown St. Pete.

For background, the Municipal Services Center, or MSC for short, is an 11-story city-owned building with an entire block of Central Avenue frontage that primarily houses city services such as the planning department, code enforcement, and parking management. The building needs millions of dollars in deferred renovations and as a result the City has been exploring ways to renovate or build a new MSC building.

As part of the plan, a new MSC building would be developed on 2nd Avenue North across from City Hall. After receiving the initial development proposal in December, the City was required to solicit requests from other groups before selling the land.

May 01, 2020

The Sapphire, a boutique condominium project, is proposed for 3rd Avenue South in Downtown St. Pete

May 01, 2020/ Anthony Close

The area of downtown St. Pete that lies just south of 2nd Avenue South between 5th Street and 8th Street has seen a number of new developments in recent years. While the area is largely quiet and residential, there is a scattering of other uses too.

Development in this neighborhood tends to be less intense than other areas of downtown, with projects like Campbell Landings, which was completed in 2014, and the Saint James Townhomes, which wrapped up earlier this year.

There are a number of new developments on the horizon for this areas as well. The Royal, which recently finished site preparations, is set to break ground on 4th Avenue South. Across the street, an underappreciated medical office building is in the process of being transformed into boutique office space and an upscale restaurant, Lingr on 6th. Soon to be joining these developments is The Sapphire – a new boutique condominium project.