November 25, 2024

13-story hotel and apartment building proposed for St. Pete's Grand Central District

November 25, 2024/ Veronica Brezina

A 13-story building featuring 60 apartments and 60 short-term rentals is slated for the 10,000-square-foot property at 1663 1st Avenue South in downtown St. Pete.

The St. Petersburg City Council, meeting as the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), unanimously approved the plans on Thursday, finding it consistent with the Intown West Redevelopment Plan (IWRP).

The plan will go before the Development Review Commission on December 4th.

The property is currently developed with a commercial building that was previously the home of Sunshine Kitty Catfe, Tampa Bay’s first cat café which debuted in 2019, and the Dolman Law Group, which has an office in Clearwater.

November 21, 2024

Tampa Bay Rays stadium deal appears dead, city delays vote to fund Trop repairs

November 21, 2024/ Veronica Brezina

A plan years in the making to build a modern $1.3 billion ballpark for the Tampa Bay Rays in the heart of downtown St. Pete may be completely dead.

On Thursday, St. Petersburg City Council voted to delay a vote that would approve two bonds totaling $287.5 million in tax-exempt funding for the new stadium, following suit with the Pinellas County Commission which voted to delay their bond funding for a second time earlier this week.

The county commissioners and city councilmembers were hesitant to grant the bond resolution due to the Rays’ lack of communication.

November 21, 2024

St. Pete’s largest shopping event Shopapalooza is back this Thanksgiving weekend

November 21, 2024/ Brian Zucker

The holiday season is upon us and it wouldn’t be complete without Shopapalooza! Now in its 14th year, St. Pete’s largest outdoor annual shopping event will take place at Vinoy Park on downtown St. Pete’s sparkling waterfront this Thanksgiving weekend – Saturday November 30th and Sunday December 1st from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.

With over 350 local makers and small businesses, Shopapalooza is the perfect place to get your holiday shopping done and out of the way.

Best of all, admission is free! So, bring the entire family, including your pets and kids, for a weekend full of shopping, music, entertainment, and fun.

Shopapalooza Festival is a production of LocalShops1 and co-sponsored by the City of St. Petersburg. This year's nonprofit partners are St. Pete Youth Farm and Jump for Kids.

November 21, 2024

Miramar Beach Resort expansion, rooftop restaurant approved in St. Pete Beach

November 21, 2024/ Veronica Brezina

A new 30-unit hotel tower is expected to rise at the Miramar Beach Resort, transforming the property along St. Pete Beach’s shoreline.

During a Tuesday St. Pete Beach planning board meeting, the members unanimously voted to support a conditional use approval (CUP) for the redevelopment and expansion of the resort at 4200 Gulf Boulevard.

The existing two-story, two-building resort, which has been a staple since 1953, would demolish 10 of the existing hotel units in favor of a new 76-foot hotel building at the rear of the site just behind the towering sand dunes.

November 20, 2024

Developer behind 46-story 400 Central condo tower to redevelop Mirror Lake property into residential tower

November 20, 2024/ Veronica Brezina

After St. Pete Rising announced earlier this week that a prime redevelopment site on Mirror Lake was under contract, the developer behind Florida’s tallest residential tower revealed themselves to be the undisclosed buyer.

New York-based Red Apple Group is reportedly set to purchase the property for $13.2 million by the end of the year.

“As Mr. Catsimatidis alluded to recently, we are under contract to acquire this exciting piece of land near beautiful Mirror Lake in the heart of the Sunshine City’s downtown,” Kevin King, director of Florida operations for Red Apple, said in a statement to St. Pete Rising.