Legacy of iconic Munch’s Restaurant to continue at Tchotchke

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Legacy of iconic Munch’s Restaurant to continue at Tchotchke

When restaurateur Matthew Firosz signed the lease for the old Munch's Restaurant and Sundries, Firosz knew he wanted to honor the nostalgic history tied to the space now reopening under a different name.

Longtime owner Larry Munch and his family served breakfast for 70 years at 3920 6th Street South in southeast St. Pete before Munch announced his retirement and closed the restaurant in late 2022.

"We need to embrace what was here. The Munch family has owned this place since 1952 - that's a real testament to this industry," Firosz said in a conversation with St. Pete Rising. "We can make new memories in this space while paying tribute to what came before us." 

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80-unit affordable housing building approved for 4th Street North in St. Pete

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80-unit affordable housing building approved for 4th Street North in St. Pete

An 80-unit affordable apartment building aimed at addressing the critical need for low-cost housing for seniors has received unanimous approval from the city’s Development Review Commission.

The green light has been given for the Flats on 4th project, a $37.5 million endeavor set to be constructed on a currently undeveloped parcel at the southwest corner of the intersection of 106th Avenue North and 4th Street North in north St. Pete.

The Flats on 4th, a four-story mid-rise building, will house 52 one-bedroom units and 28 two-bedroom units, providing housing options for residents with incomes between 40 to 60 percent of the area median income (AMI).

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Done Deals: Central Avenue multifamily site lists, Beach Theatre to reopen, ARK secures funding for educational hub  

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Done Deals: Central Avenue multifamily site lists, Beach Theatre to reopen, ARK secures funding for educational hub  

Done Deals is a weekly column by St. Pete Rising spotlighting recent real estate market insight and significant deals happening in the Sunshine City and beyond. The following information is sourced from public records and trusted intel.

Have real estate news to share? Send us an email at hello@stpeterising.com.

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COPA cocktail lounge and tapas bar to expand in the EDGE District

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COPA cocktail lounge and tapas bar to expand in the EDGE District

The owners of COPA, a cocktail, wine, and tapas bar that opened in fall 2019 at 1047 Central Avenue in the EDGE District, are taking over the adjoining property at 1045 Central Avenue — formerly home to Italy Bottega, an Italian restaurant — and plan to open a daytime café in the space.

“We have some really exciting plans and cannot wait to debut it to everyone,” co-owner Sébastien Thurière said in an interview with St. Pete Rising. He owns and operates COPA along with his brother, Maxim Thurière.

“We want to not only grow our current concept in the evenings,” Sébastien added, “but we’ll be using that space to introduce a new concept in the morning that we're calling Café COPA.”

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Developer announces scaled back Mirror Lake condo tower

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Developer announces scaled back Mirror Lake condo tower

After community concerns, a St. Pete-based developer is significantly reducing the height of the planned Lake House condominium tower that may soon rise on Mirror Lake.

St. Pete-based Skyward Living, which is helmed by St. Pete local Hudson Harr, now proposes to build an 11-story upscale condo building at 200 Mirror Lake Drive North, a seven story decrease from the original 18-story plan.

“A year ago, when the original proposal went before the St. Petersburg DRC [Development Review Commission], there was discussion about the parking podium and whether it could be reduced by an additional level,” Harr said in a conversation with St. Pete Rising.

The development team acquiesced, decreasing the parking podium height from five stories to three and increasing the tower’s setback as a result of comments from Derek Kilborn, Manager of the City of St. Petersburg's Urban Planning and Historic Preservation Division.

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Look Alive Coffee begins roasting specialty coffee in the Grand Central District

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Look Alive Coffee begins roasting specialty coffee in the Grand Central District

A new coffee roaster that focuses on specialty coffees is up and running at 1920 ½ 1st Avenue South, behind Spitfire Comedy House, in St. Petersburg’s Grand Central District.

Look Alive Coffee is owned and operated by Kelly Packard, who was born in Clearwater but then moved to Dallas, Texas with her family when she was still in elementary school.

“It’s really nice to be back here,” Packard said in an interview with St. Pete Rising. “I’ve always felt at home here. My parents are back here too, so it feels very ‘full circle’ being back at home.”

Look Alive Coffee is primarily a wholesale business, but anyone is welcome to order bags of coffee or sign up for a coffee subscription via the company’s website.

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95-unit affordable housing building proposed near 34th Street in St. Pete

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95-unit affordable housing building proposed near 34th Street in St. Pete

The St. Petersburg Housing Authority and Tampa Bay Area-based affordable housing developer Blue Sky Communities are moving forward with an affordable housing project that will bring a 95-unit apartment complex to a 1.35-acre site at the intersection of 32nd Avenue North and Hartford Street in north St. Petersburg.

When it was first announced in February 2023, the Hartford project was expected to consist of 47 affordable units for seniors and families whose incomes are below the 60% area median income (AMI) threshold.

However, on February 15th the St. Pete City Council approved a zoning change that will allow higher-density housing to be built on the parcel.

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Massive 2,084-unit apartment community, Sprouts Farmers Market to break ground in the Skyway Marina District

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Massive 2,084-unit apartment community, Sprouts Farmers Market to break ground in the Skyway Marina District

A pile of concrete and rebar is all that remains on one end of the former 380,000-square-foot Ceridian office park in St. Petersburg's Skyway Marina District where a new master-planned community will soon rise.

Coral Gables-based real estate company Altis Cardinal is redeveloping the 34.2-acre site at 3102 34th Street South into a new $500 million mixed-use destination - now called Sky Town.

Altis Cardinal purchased the property in December 2021 for $40 million.

Today, over half of the buildings at the former office park are demolished, and construction crews are preparing to bulldoze another building to make way for the future development.

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Six-story resort with waterpark and rooftop bar proposed for St. Pete Beach

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Six-story resort with waterpark and rooftop bar proposed for St. Pete Beach

A vacant strip of waterfront property along St. Pete Beach's Gulf Boulevard may be redeveloped into a full-service resort with floating boat docks, a waterpark, a rooftop tiki bar, and more. 

St. Petersburg architect Jack Bodziak, who has worked on commercial and residential developments throughout Tampa Bay, has filed plans with the city to build a 104-key hotel, dubbed Windward Pass Resort, on the McPherson Bayou.

The 2.76-acre assemblage, bookend by the Sand Cove Apartments and Sun Harbor Condos, is currently owned by local philanthropist and ceramic artist Beth Morean. 

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Inside St. Pete’s Development Guide: Fostering equitable growth amid downtown population boom

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Inside St. Pete’s Development Guide: Fostering equitable growth amid downtown population boom

It's no secret St. Petersburg is a jewel bustling with small locally-owned businesses and an activated waterfront, but there are glaring gaps in the residential and office markets.

Last week, the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership released its 2024 Development Guide, an annual resource tool providing a snapshot of the latest economic and commercial activity to encourage public and private stakeholders to spur healthy growth.

"St. Pete wasn’t always a vibrant city with intentional development," Mayor Ken Welch said during the partnership's Development Summit hosted at The St. Pete Distillery on Tuesday, February 27th.

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