Sprouts Farmers Market, Badcock Furniture to open in Largo shopping plaza

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Sprouts Farmers Market, Badcock Furniture to open in Largo shopping plaza

Organic grocer Sprouts Farmers Market is growing its footprint in Pinellas County and will open a new store in Largo's Keene Plaza Shopping Center.

St. Petersburg-based commercial real estate firm Paradise Ventures, which is redeveloping the Sundial shopping complex in downtown St. Pete, is demolishing 35,500 square feet of retail space at the northeast end of the retail plaza to make way for two new tenants - Sprouts Farmers Market and Badcock Home Furniture & More, which will relocate its showroom on Missouri Avenue to the new space.

The 85,299-square-foot plaza, at the northwest corner of Keene Road and East Bay Drive, was previously anchored by a Save A Lot and Bealls Outlet.

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Florida’s largest co-living developer to build more shared housing in St. Pete

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Florida’s largest co-living developer to build more shared housing in St. Pete

Rents continue to soar in St. Petersburg where demand outpaces supply, but one local property management and development firm is addressing the economic issue by building      innovative co-living spaces throughout the city.  

In a co-living space, house members share kitchens, living rooms, and other communal areas.  

St. Petersburg-based Docked Living, a co-living developer that delivers a membership-based housing subscription rather than a traditional lease, is flipping several dormant properties. The company is Florida's largest co-living developer. 

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Interactive indoor playground and kid-friendly cafe to open on Central Avenue in St. Pete

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Interactive indoor playground and kid-friendly cafe to open on Central Avenue in St. Pete

An interactive playhouse with everything from structures resembling castles where kids can role-play to a kid-friendly cafe serving coffee and pastries will open in downtown St. Petersburg. 

The new business, Run and Play Kids Cafe, is a joint venture between Jessica Gavin, owner of downtown's first toy shop Runrun Kids Store, and Hannah Rewarts, founder of the mobile coffee truck Bean Wandering. 

The space at 3950 Central Avenue, next door to the Runrun Kids Store, will have a 1,110-square-foot play area designed for children ages 6 months to 9 years old, as there will be separated and gated play zones with toys found at the Runrun Kids Store. 

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New brewery to open in St. Pete’s former Brutalist Brewery

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New brewery to open in St. Pete’s former Brutalist Brewery

Craft beer will pour once again inside the former home of The Brutalist Temple of Beer in St. Petersburg.

Richie and Jill Hamm, owners of the newly registered Freedom Brewing Co., purchased the 10,7470-square-foot industrial property at 1776 11th Avenue North in a $2.3 million deal.

The new owners plan to open and operate a unique brewery concept that will utilize the entire interior and the outdoor patio, according to a press release from Bridgewater Commercial Real Estate. 

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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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