Developer chosen to bring affordable housing to former Tomlinson Adult Learning Center in downtown St. Pete

/
Developer chosen to bring affordable housing to former Tomlinson Adult Learning Center in downtown St. Pete

The nearly century-old Tomlinson Building in downtown St. Petersburg’s Mirror Lake neighborhood will get a new lease on life thanks to a plan that’s been greenlit by Pinellas County Schools (PCS), which owns the property and in fall 2022 issued a request for proposals for the property at 296 Mirror Lake Drive.

According to a news release, a group called Tomlinson Community Partners (TCP), a joint venture between Dantes Partners and Goshen + Cornerstone, has been chosen to transform the 1.36-acre site, which includes two surface parking lots and the three-story, 40,942-square-foot Tomlinson Building.

The Tomlinson Building opened in 1924 as St. Petersburg Junior High School and became a vocational high school in 1931. In 1935, the name was changed to Edwin H. Tomlinson Vocational School. Another name change occurred in 1978, when it became known as the Tomlinson Adult Learning Center.

Read More

Construction set to begin on two new apartment buildings in downtown St. Pete

/
Construction set to begin on two new apartment buildings in downtown St. Pete

Construction is set to begin on a pair of apartment building that are slated to bring 220 smaller, more attainable apartments to downtown St. Petersburg.  

Named Ellington Place, the buildings are being developed by Florida-based REM Capital and are situated at 770 4th Avenue North and 200 17th Street North. REM Capital owns and operates 24 properties across the southeastern United States.

This will be the group’s first ground-up development says REM Capital’s President Robert Ritzenthaler. “I never dreamed we’d be developing in St. Petersburg,”says Ritzenthaler, who is a Tampa Bay resident.

Read More

Construction begins on Bear Creek Commons, an 85-unit affordable apartment building, in west St. Pete

/
Construction begins on Bear Creek Commons, an 85-unit affordable apartment building, in west St. Pete

Construction has begun on an 85-unit affordable housing development in west St. Petersburg.

The building, named Bear Creek Commons, will be located on a 4.66-acre site at 635 64th Street South adjacent to Bear Creek, a 2.7 mile stream that flows to Boca Ciega Bay. The property was previously home to Grace Connection Church. 

The building is being developed by Blue Sky Communities, an affordable housing developer who most recently opened Skyway Lofts, a 65-unit affordable apartment complex in the Skyway Marina District of St. Pete. Due to overwhelming demand, a second Skyway Lofts phase is in the works which will consist of an additional 66 apartments.

Read More

Nostalgic summer camp-themed bar coming to the Grand Central District

/
Nostalgic summer camp-themed bar coming to the Grand Central District

Remember when the days were longer and the summer seemed endless? When your parents would send you off to summer camp and the only worry in the world was whether your team would win color wars?

Well, you may have outgrown your camp years, but a new restaurant and bar is coming to St. Pete that will allow you to channel all those summer camp vibes again.

Camp is in session this fall when Summer Camp debuts at 2060 1st Avenue South in the Grand Central District.

Read More

St. Petersburg Yacht Club to be demolished in downtown St. Pete

/
St. Petersburg Yacht Club to be demolished in downtown St. Pete

Five years from now, St. Petersburg’s downtown waterfront will have a different look, because the St. Petersburg Yacht Club (SPYC) board of directors has approved a plan to demolish the club’s 51,000-square-foot building and replace it with an all-new structure, and it intends to raise membership fees to help offset the cost of the project.

SPYC Commodore Brian K. Smith broke the news in a May 30th letter to the club’s members. He said the decision to raze the historic structure, which opened in 1917, is the result of a master-planning process that began nearly a year ago.

During the master planning process, it became evident that the current clubhouse, located at 11 Central Avenue in downtown St. Pete, needed significant upgrades.

Read More

Fort Lauderdale developer proposes to build affordable housing in downtown St. Pete

/
Fort Lauderdale developer proposes to build affordable housing in downtown St. Pete

Fort Lauderdale-based real estate developer Alexander Goshen has submitted a letter of intent to lease a city-owned lot in downtown St. Pete with the intent of constructing an affordable housing building.

The letter of intent comes in response to the City of St. Pete seeking alternative proposals to a bid from Tampa-based Third Lake Partners LLC, which in April offered to buy the 1.53-acre parcel at the corner of 3rd Avenue South and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street South from the city for $6 million.

The property is currently in use as a surface parking lot but in 2021 it was part of a $200 million mixed-use proposal, submitted by UPC Insurance, Moffitt Cancer Center, and TPA Group, that would have included a 75,000-square-foot Moffitt Cancer Center facility, a 30-story residential tower, and a 14-story hotel.

Read More

Upscale steakhouse Frankie's Italian Chophouse coming to 4th Street in north St. Pete

/
Upscale steakhouse Frankie's Italian Chophouse coming to 4th Street in north St. Pete

The diversification of 4th Street North’s culinary scene is set to continue with the mid-June opening of Frankie’s Italian Chophouse, an upscale steakhouse created by Frank Schittino, the owner and operator of Café Cibo at 8697 4th Street North, and his business partner, Chad Davis.

Frankie’s Italian Chophouse is located just a couple of blocks north of Café Cibo, at 8901 4th Street North in a 5,400-square foot building most recently occupied by Perico’s Mexican Restaurant. In the mid-2000s, the building was almost home to HipHop Soda Shop, a highly-anticipated restaurant, arcade, and recording studio helmed by former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Warren Sapp and other pro athletes. Their plans never came to fruition and the HipHop Soda Shop never opened.

As for Frankie’s Italian Chophouse, Schittino said the concept has been a long time coming.

Read More

97 apartments with no parking proposed for the Grand Central District

/
97 apartments with no parking proposed for the Grand Central District

In what could be a harbinger of future developments around downtown St. Pete, a pair of local real estate developers have proposed to construct an 8-story, 97-unit apartment building with zero parking on the east side of the Grand Central District.

Craig Bazarsky of BendinRoad Development LLC and Christopher Bicho of Landings Real Estates Group are under contract to purchase a 0.23-acre parcel at 1663 1st Avenue South. The property is currently home to a commercial building occupied by Dolman Law Group and Sunshine Kitty Catfe, Tampa Bay’s first cat café which debuted in 2019.

"The entire landscape of downtown St Pete has changed dramatically over the last few years and I knew it was only a matter of time until my small business would be directly impacted," said Amanda Jones, owner of Sunshine Kitty Catfe, in a conversation with St. Pete Rising. "It came as no surprise when I received news of the pending sale of our building.

Read More

Construction begins on Castille Urbana, a 40-unit condo building, on 3rd Avenue South

/
Construction begins on Castille Urbana, a 40-unit condo building, on 3rd Avenue South

NJR Construction Group has achieved a significant milestone with the groundbreaking of Castille Urbana, a mid-rise condominium building in Downtown St. Petersburg.

Located at 600 3rd Avenue South, Castille Urbana is positioned just 150 feet to the east of the previously completed and sold-out Domus Urbana, a sister project, which was also developed by NJR Construction Group.

Plans for Castille Urbana were announced by St. Pete Rising in December 2021 with reservations for the residences beginning in 2022.

Read More

Massive development to bring nearly 2,100 apartments to St. Pete’s Skyway Marina District

/
Massive development to bring nearly 2,100 apartments to St. Pete’s Skyway Marina District

Plans have been filed with the City of St. Petersburg for a massive mixed-use development that is set to transform St. Pete’s Skyway Marina District.

Altis Cardinal Skyline 2, LLC, an entity controlled by Coral Gables-based Altis Cardinal, has filed plans to redevelop the Ceridian campus located at 3102 34th Street South.

Altis Cardinal purchased the 34.3-acre office park in December 2021 for $40 million.

The proposed development, named Skyway Village, is a phased, master planned project that will include demolishing much of the existing 380,000 square foot office park and constructing a series of new mid-rise buildings that include a mix of apartments and walkable community retail.

Read More