Golf simulator lounge and upscale restaurant to bring country club vibes to former Hofbrauhaus building in downtown St. Pete

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Golf simulator lounge and upscale restaurant to bring country club vibes to former Hofbrauhaus building in downtown St. Pete

One of downtown St. Petersburg’s most iconic and historically significant buildings will soon be home to an upscale indoor golf lounge and high-end restaurant featuring seating for over 300 guests.

GolfSuites, Inc., based in Brandon, Florida, has signed a lease to bring the first and flagship GolfSuites City Club to the 17,000-square-foot historic Tramor Cafeteria building at 123 4th Street South in downtown St. Pete.

“With GolfSuites City Club, we are bringing the country club into the city,” said Jerry Ellenburg, Chairman and CEO of GolfSuites, Inc., in a conversation with St. Pete Rising. “Not only will we have hyper-realistic, state-of-the-art golf simulators, but we will have a high-end dining experience with a menu featuring scallops, short rib, prime rib, and more.” 

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22 blocks of Central Avenue to close for 3rd annual Halloween on Central

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22 blocks of Central Avenue to close for 3rd annual Halloween on Central

Halloween on Central’s first two years were a massive success with over 100,000 in attendance last year, quickly becoming one of the largest annual events in St. Pete. The open-air festival is set to return for its third year on Sunday, October 29th!

This year, Halloween on Central is being put on by Grow Financial Federal Credit Union and in partnership with the Grand Central District, EDGE District, the City of St. Pete, LocalShops1, and St. Pete Pride.

Like last year, the free event will span nearly two miles of Central Avenue, from Dr. MLK Jr. Street (9th Street) to 31st Street, through the EDGE District and Grand Central District of downtown St. Pete. Halloween on Central will run from noon to 5PM.

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Local coffee shop and cafe, Sugar Baby, to open in Seminole

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Local coffee shop and cafe, Sugar Baby, to open in Seminole

Seminole residents will soon be able to enjoy another locally owned option for their caffeine fix when Sugar Baby opens later this month at 9191 Park Boulevard.

The coffee shop, whose website claims that “sandy feet and dogs are always welcome,” will serve Buddy Brew coffee in a variety of hot and cold beverage options, including espresso, latte, americano, cappuccino, flat white, and cortado. Matcha and chai lattes will be available for tea drinkers.

The food menu features an all-day breakfast, with dishes such as avocado toast, breakfast sandwiches, salmon toast, a granola bowl, and Sugar Baby toast, which is a soft-boiled egg, salmon spread, avocado, pickled red onion, and micro cilantro on a slice of sourdough.

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Dessert bar from owners of Mullet’s Fish Camp coming soon to south St. Pete

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Dessert bar from owners of Mullet’s Fish Camp coming soon to south St. Pete

The owners of Mullet’s Fish Camp & Market, located at 3901 6th Street South, are opening a dessert bar at 3910 6th Street South, formerly the home of Coquina Meat Market, directly across the street from their seafood restaurant.

In an interview with St. Pete Rising, Brian Rose and Nick Brown said they wanted to expand their business because it’s in an underserved part of the city where families need more options for doing things together.

“We have a very kid-friendly restaurant,” Rose said. “We have families coming in constantly. ‘Let’s go get ice cream’ — that’s one of the most straightforward family functions.” 

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Florida-based coffee shop Qargo Coffee to expand to downtown St. Pete

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Florida-based coffee shop Qargo Coffee to expand to downtown St. Pete

Qargo Coffee, a small but quickly growing coffee company that’s headquartered in Miami, is coming to the EDGE District of downtown St. Petersburg, with plans to open a café at 924 Central Avenue, inside the 930 Central Flats apartment building, by the end of the year. The space is currently home to My Choice Marketplace.

It will be Qargo’s second location in the Tampa Bay region — the other is a kiosk-style café at the International Plaza and Bay Street mall in Tampa.

The St. Pete location, according to Qargo Coffee Marketing Director Sebastian Garcia, will be about 1,200 square feet in size and will offer around 20 seats inside and additional seating outside. Its menu will feature espresso-based beverages, drip coffee, cold brew coffee, and tea in addition to specialty beverages that are unique to St. Pete. 

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St. Pete named one of the happiest towns in America

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St. Pete named one of the happiest towns in America

St. Petersburg is known as the Sunshine City for its average temperature of 74 degrees and an average of 361 days of sunshine per year, but could it also be the Happiest City?

According to Outside Magazine, St. Pete made the list of The Happiest Towns in America.

To create the list, Outside Magazine looked at things like outdoor access, affordability, a safe environment, diversity, and freedom for residents to be who they are.

These happy lifestyle traits were boiled down into technical metrics such as percentage of parkland, percentage of residents who live within a ten-minute walk of a park, and Municipal Equality Index Score, among other factors.

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It's Official: The Rays are staying in St. Pete

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It's Official: The Rays are staying in St. Pete

This morning, the Rays held a press conference to confirm yesterday’s reports of their intent to stay in downtown St. Petersburg for decades to come.

An agreement has finally been reached between the Rays, The City of St. Petersburg, and Pinellas County to move forward with a new state-of-the-art ballpark and a transformational development on the 86-acre Historic Gas Plant District site where the team’s current stadium sits. 

“This will be a transformative project for the Rays, St. Petersburg, and Pinellas County,” said Tampa Bay Rays Principal Owner Stu Sternberg. “We have proudly served as Tampa Bay’s Major League team for 25 years, and we are thrilled to be in position to do so for decades and generations to come.” 

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The Rays expected to announce new stadium deal in downtown St. Pete

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The Rays expected to announce new stadium deal in downtown St. Pete

The Tampa Bay Rays have reached an agreement to build a new baseball stadium in downtown St. Petersburg, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

An official announcement is expected on Tuesday.

The new stadium would be constructed as part of the redevelopment of the 86-acre Historic Gas Plant District, where the current stadium resides, and open for the 2028 season.

Last year, the City of St. Petersburg published a request for proposals (RFP) for the Historic Gas Plant District. The Rays submitted a proposal for the site in partnership with Hines, one of the largest privately held real estate investors and managers in the world.

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18-story condo tower Reflection tops out near Mirror Lake in downtown St. Pete

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18-story condo tower Reflection tops out near Mirror Lake in downtown St. Pete

Downtown St. Pete’s newest condominium building has reached a construction milestone. Reflection, the 18-story condominium tower under construction at 777 3rd Avenue North in downtown St. Petersburg, has topped out.

Reaching a height of 200 feet, Reflection is the tallest building in the Mirror Lake neighborhood and will have 88 condominium residences and 2,800 square feet of retail space at completion.

Reflection is being developed by the principals of HP Capital - Fred Hemmer, Angelo Cappelli, Nick Hansen, and Chris Hemmer - along with the DeNunzio Group led by Dustin DeNunzio.

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Art and fashion collide as SaltLight Art set to join the Grand Central District

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Art and fashion collide as SaltLight Art set to join the Grand Central District

A new incarnation of SaltLight Art, a women’s boutique with plenty of artistic flair, will open in October at 1916 Central Avenue, at the eastern end of the Grand Central District. 

The shop will carry a huge selection of products, such as bracelets, necklaces, earrings, rings, and artwork, created by artist and designer Mary Long, who co-owns SaltLight Art with her husband, William. The boutique will also offer clothing, bags, shoes, and gifts. 

The couple aren’t from St. Petersburg originally but got to know the city well because their daughter graduated from Eckerd College. In an interview with St. Pete Rising, Long said the plight of the city’s homeless population inspired them to move to St. Pete in 2015.

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