May 18, 2021

Rooftop restaurant and bar announced for proposed three-story food hall in downtown St. Pete

May 18, 2021/ Brian Zucker

Last year, St. Pete Rising revealed plans for Central Park, an expansive three-story food hall coming to 551 Central Avenue in downtown St. Pete. Today, we are excited to unveil the restaurant and bar concept that will be located on the rooftop – Kojo.

Kojo will feature flavors from China, Japan, Taiwan and Korea with a touch of European flair. Although the menu will include familiar favorites, such as gyoza and sushi, Kojo will stand out through the ambitious and unexpected dishes you won’t find anywhere else in St. Pete.

This will be Kojo’s second location. In February, Owner Natalia Levey opened the highly anticipated Asian-inspired eatery in downtown Sarasota to rave reviews. “People seem to be loving Kojo so far in Sarasota,” said Levey. “We cannot wait to bring this unique concept to Central Park in downtown St. Pete.”

May 17, 2021

Boutique townhome community, SOMA, announced for 4th Avenue South in downtown St. Pete

May 17, 2021/ Anthony Close

Downtown St. Pete is set to see another luxury townhome development as the real estate market continues to see extraordinarily low inventory and strong buyer demand. Several projects in the downtown area have recently sold out including The Royal, a 13-unit townhome development on 4th Avenue South, and Six Point Row, a 19-unit townhome project on 1st Avenue North in the Grand Central District. This demand is fueling the need for more residential units at all price points.

Coming off the success of their last project, the team behind Driftwood on Central, an 11-unit sold-out mixed-use and townhome development that is currently under construction in the Grand Central District, has announced their latest project – SOMA.

May 17, 2021

Ciccio Restaurant Group’s newest concept is coming to Fourth Street in St. Pete

May 17, 2021/ Amy Kochek

While world travelers are still waiting for the borders to open back up, St. Pete residents will soon be able to escape to Italy by visiting Jay & Luigi, a fast-casual Italian trattoria opening in July at 3201 4th Street North. The restaurant space was formerly home to Burger 21, and before that JusThai.

The pizzeria will focus on healthy and fresh ingredients highlighted by numerous plant-based options. They’ll offer two styles of pizza -- Pizza al Taglio, which is a Roman-style pizza, and a signature spin on New York-style pizza. Roman pizza has a light and airy crust thanks to a 72-hour fermentation and an extremely hydrated dough.

May 14, 2021

A senior living community, The Manhattan, is coming to the Skyway Marina District in St. Pete

May 14, 2021/ Brian Zucker

A new active senior living community is coming soon to the Skyway Marina District. On April 30th, Sarasota-based LifeStar Living closed on a 5.25-acre property at 4595 34th Street South for $9 million. The site is currently home to a self-storage facility and an Ace Hardware.

“We are very excited about closing on this prized location in St. Petersburg,” says LifeStar President and CEO Joel Anderson. “The Skyway Marina District is situated within so many convenient lifestyle opportunities that make St. Petersburg a special place to live, and a perfect location for LifeStar’s flagship property.”

The first phase of the Manhattan is estimated to cost $125 million and will be comprised of over 80 condo-style homes with modern coastal finishes. Each unit will include 1,050 to 2,600 square feet of living space.

May 10, 2021

112-unit apartment development approved for 4th Street North in St. Pete

May 10, 2021/ Anthony Close

Plans for the redevelopment of a former mobile home park at 8700 4th Street North are moving forward after a site plan was approved last Wednesday by St. Pete’s Development Review Commission.

Belleair Development Group purchased the former 112-unit Lamplight Village mobile home park in January 2018 for $3.4 million. In 2019, the new owners petitioned the City to rezone 6.14-acres of the property from Neighborhood Mobile Home (NMH) to Neighborhood Suburban Multi-family (NSM-1) in order to redevelop the site into rental units. City Council approved the rezoning in early 2020.

The redevelopment of Lamplight Village calls for a total of 112 units across 19 buildings. Eighteen of the 19 buildings are two-story, four-unit buildings—similar to townhomes—while a larger three-story, 40-unit building will be located on the eastern side of the property.

May 07, 2021

15-story apartment tower proposed for 1st Avenue North gets approved

May 07, 2021/ Samantha Flanagan

The St Petersburg Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) voted unanimously on Thursday to approve a proposed 15-story development at the southwest corner of 1st Ave North and Dr. MLK Jr. Street in St Pete’s EDGE District, giving the final greenlight to an exciting Opportunity Zone project that has been in the works since late last year.

St. Pete Rising first reported on the proposed development by Belpointe, tentatively referred to as 1000 1st Avenue North, earlier this year.

May 06, 2021

Doc Ford’s Rum Bar and Grille is coming to west St. Pete

May 06, 2021/ Brian Zucker

Riding on the success of their restaurant at the new St. Pete Pier, the group behind Doc Ford’s Rum Bar and Grille has decided to open a second location in west St. Petersburg. The new waterfront eatery will be located at 8790 Bay Pines Boulevard. The site was formerly home to the Green Iguana Bar and Grill, which closed in 2012, and Joe’s Crab Shack before that.

"We love the St. Pete community and look forward to being in the Jungle Terrace neighborhood," said Mark Marinello, an HM Restaurant Group partner.

This will be the fifth location for Doc Ford’s with other locations in Fort Myers Beach, Captiva Island, and Sanibel Island.

May 04, 2021

Highly anticipated gay bar, Cocktail, opens this Friday in St. Pete

May 04, 2021/ Amy Kochek

Cocktail St. Pete is a new cocktail bar making a bold entrance into the Grand Central District with “stiff drinks, hard liquor, and raging good times”. The gay hangout will be located at 2355 Central Avenue on the ground floor of the historic Mari Jean Hotel. Cocktail will be neighbor to Mateo’s Trattoria & Pizzeria, which is replacing Sophia’s Cucina + Enoteca.

Thanks to neighborhood newcomers like the Grand Central Brewhouse and Hatchet Hangout, as well as long-time favorites such as Dog Bar and Right Around the Corner, the Grand Central District is livelier than ever — especially on the weekends. And Cocktail will only add to the excitement.

April 28, 2021

Ybor-based crepe café expanding to the EDGE District this fall

April 28, 2021/ Brian Zucker

After over 15 successful years in Ybor City, the owner of La Creperia Café has decided to bring his popular crepes to downtown St. Pete. However the St. Pete location will be smaller than its Ybor counterpart and will go by a different name – Crepeway Caffe.

Crepeway Caffe will be located at 907 Central Avenue in the EDGE District. The space was formerly occupied by Now and Then, a vintage furniture shop. EJ Barkett of Barkett Realty represented the landlord in the deal.

“I absolutely love downtown St. Pete,” said owner Konstantinos Chilias. “There is a ton of foot traffic, dogs, and sunshine. It’s a beautiful city. It’s perfect.”

April 27, 2021

Aerial St. Pete: Construction updates from downtown's newest residential towers

April 27, 2021/ Anthony Close

The latest edition of Aerial St. Pete shows some of the early progress on several downtown developments. Aerial St. Pete is a quarterly column by St. Pete Rising which features exclusive aerial photography of projects under construction in St. Petersburg, FL. To accomplish this, we have teamed up with Anthony Bove at AB3 Visuals.

This quarter we are taking a look at four projects in downtown St. Pete which have all broken ground in the past year. These include: 334 Apartments, 357 5th Street South, Ascent St. Petersburg, and Saltaire. We look forward to following these projects over the next few years as they continue to go vertical and contribute to St. Pete’s growing skyline.