Chipotle taking over former KFC in Largo near Indian Rocks Beach

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Chipotle taking over former KFC in Largo near Indian Rocks Beach

Permits have been filed for a new Chipotle Mexican Grill in Largo, marking another expansion for the popular fast-casual chain.

Known for its streamlined menu of burritos, tacos, and bowls, the restaurant will open at 13677 Walsingham Road, just five minutes from Indian Rocks Beach, in a former KFC building.

The 2,885-square-foot space is being renovated at a cost of $400,000. Once complete, the restaurant will seat 46 diners inside and another 12 on an outdoor patio.

The project’s architect is Dungan Design Group LLC of Overland Park, Kansas, while Clearwater-based Strategic Commercial Construction is serving as the general contractor.

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Farm-to-table restaurant Naked Farmer to expand with new location on 4th Street North

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Farm-to-table restaurant Naked Farmer to expand with new location on 4th Street North

Farm-to-table fast-casual restaurant Naked Farmer is planting deeper roots in St. Petersburg.

The St. Pete–born brand told St. Pete Rising it will open a second location in the Sunshine City next summer at 2631 4th Street North, a 1,920-square-foot space that previously housed EVOS.

The upcoming location marks another milestone in Naked Farmer’s rapid growth.

Founded in 2020 in downtown St. Pete, the restaurant has grown to eight locations across Florida, including Tampa, Coral Gables, Sunrise, Miami, Sarasota, and Fort Lauderdale.

Expansion outside the state is also underway, with upcoming restaurants in Nashville, TN and Charlotte, NC.

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Habitat for Humanity to break ground on 57-home community in Lealman

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Habitat for Humanity to break ground on 57-home community in Lealman

Nearly six acres of underutilized land in St. Pete’s Lealman neighborhood is set to be transformed into a new affordable housing community.

Habitat for Humanity Tampa Bay Gulfside is expected to break ground by the end of the year on a project that will bring 57 new homes to families in need.

Located across from Lealman Elementary School at the corner of 58th Avenue North and 40th Street North, the new community will feature 31 single-family homes and 26 townhomes.

The townhomes will rise on a 1.74-acre parcel at 4000 58th Avenue North, while the single-family homes will be constructed on surrounding land.

The Housing Finance Authority of Pinellas County acquired the properties in 2016.

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Buya Ramen to close permanently after nine years in the EDGE District of downtown St. Pete

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Buya Ramen to close permanently after nine years in the EDGE District of downtown St. Pete

After nearly a decade of dishing up ramen and Japanese-inspired dishes in the EDGE District, Buya Ramen will close its doors for good this weekend.

The izakaya-style eatery, located at 911 Central Avenue, will serve its final bowls of ramen this Sunday after the restaurant and its landlord could not come to terms on a lease renewal.

Buya Ramen first opened on August 10th, 2016, at a time when the EDGE District was just beginning to take shape.

Back then, Green Bench Brewing, Red Mesa Mercado, Hawkers, and Bodega were among the few neighborhood anchors. Today, the district is home to an array of popular destinations like Intermezzo, Grassroots, Bavaros, and Sweetgreen.

Buya was among the early pioneers that helped spark the area’s transformation.

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French bakery and bistro Mademoiselle Paris coming to Gulfport this winter

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French bakery and bistro Mademoiselle Paris coming to Gulfport this winter

By 2016, they had opened their first Mademoiselle Paris location at the UTC mall in Sarasota. Not long after, the couple debuted locations in downtown Sarasota and Anna Maria Island.

The Gulfport location will be their most ambitious yet.

The 4,000-square-foot space will feature plenty of outdoor seating, a walk-up bakery window for early morning croissants and coffee, live French music on the weekends, and for the first time cocktails in addition to their extensive wine selection.

Guests staying at the Peninsula Inn will find a QR code in each room for easy ordering. And in the future, depending on demand, Mademoiselle may offer direct delivery to hotel rooms.

Why Gulfport? For the Dandonneaus, the decision was serendipitous.

“We’d been looking for a spot in St. Pete for a while. We love it there, it feels more European to us,” Myriam explains. “Then one night we had dinner at Pia’s in downtown Gulfport. The street was alive with music, people were smiling everywhere. We felt something special.”

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St. Pete pushes forward on $59 million Tropicana Field repairs as roof installation begins

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St. Pete pushes forward on $59 million Tropicana Field repairs as roof installation begins

Blue netting now surrounds the steel framework of what’s left of Tropicana Field’s roof in downtown St. Petersburg as crews prepare to install the first set of roof panels.

Last October, winds of up to 110 miles per hour from Hurricane Milton shredded the stadium’s fabric roof, causing extensive interior damage.

Now, the City of St. Pete is on the hook for the repairs.

General contractors Hennessy Construction Services and AECOM Hunt are leading the $59 million repair project, with the new roof accounting for more than $23 million of that total.

“Repair progress is well underway at Tropicana Field,” Mayor Ken Welch wrote in a Facebook post Friday, sharing photos of the work.

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74-unit apartment community with affordable housing planned for former mobile home park in Largo

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74-unit apartment community with affordable housing planned for former mobile home park in Largo

A new apartment community is being proposed in Largo where a small, 23-unit mobile home park once operated.

Developer Gary Tave of Square Peg Development LLC has submitted plans to the City of Largo to redevelop a 1.85-acre site at 621 Stremma Road into The Park Vista Apartments, a 74-unit apartment building featuring a mix of studio, one-, and two-bedroom residences, each with private balconies.

The site was formerly home to the Louis Palms Mobile Home Park, where the vacant structures are getting ready to be cleared to make way for new construction.

The new community will include a mix of market-rate and affordable units.

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NASCAR to make debut at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in 2026

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NASCAR to make debut at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in 2026

For the first time ever, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will race through the streets of downtown St. Petersburg. NASCAR officials announced Wednesday that the trucks will join the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg weekend in 2026, with the inaugural race scheduled for Saturday, February 28th.

The 1.8-mile street course winding along St. Petersburg’s waterfront will now host both IndyCar and NASCAR Trucks, bringing together two of the country’s most popular racing series in one weekend.

The addition marks a milestone for the Truck Series, which had never competed on a street circuit in its 31-season history. The 2026 schedule will feature two such races, with St. Petersburg serving as the opener before the series heads to San Diego’s Naval Base Coronado in June.

The Grand Prix of St. Petersburg has long been known as the season opener for the NTT IndyCar Series, attracting national attention and tens of thousands of fans each year. With NASCAR’s Truck Series now added to the lineup, the weekend expands into a unique showcase of top-tier motorsports.

In 2026, the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will take place on the weekend of February 27th through March 1st.

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South St. Pete’s Tangerine Plaza redevelopment plan filed for 186 affordable apartments and a grocery store

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South St. Pete’s Tangerine Plaza redevelopment plan filed for 186 affordable apartments and a grocery store

The long-awaited redevelopment of Tangerine Plaza in South St. Pete is finally starting to move forward, bringing hope for two things Midtown residents have been lacking for years: affordable housing and a grocery store.

The City of St. Pete recently approved a plan to redevelop the 3.6-acre city-owned site at 1794 22nd Street South into a mixed-use project with 186 income-restricted apartments and 10,000 square feet of commercial space, which will include a grocery store.

The approval came under Florida’s Live Local Act, which requires cities to sign off on qualifying affordable housing projects without a public hearing or appeal process.

The redevelopment is being led by the Sugar Hill Group, which includes Rev. Louis Murphy Sr. of Mount Zion Progressive Missionary Baptist Church, Roy Binger of Binger Financial Services, and Oliver Gross of New Urban Development.

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St. Pete–Tampa ferry prepares for relaunch with new operator search

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St. Pete–Tampa ferry prepares for relaunch with new operator search

After a three-month pause, daily ferry service across Tampa Bay is now one step closer to returning.

The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) has begun a competitive procurement process to select a private operator to relaunch and manage a year-round, more frequent ferry connection between downtown St. Petersburg and downtown Tampa.

On August 5th, PSTA issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit interested operators, with submissions due by Thursday, August 28th.

The new RFP follows Hillsborough County’s recent decision to terminate its contract with the previous Cross Bay Ferry operator, HMS Ferries, after the company proposed replacing the current vessel with a slower one that would extend the one-way trip from 50 minutes to more than two hours.

When the county canceled its contract with HMS, ending the Cross Bay Ferry operations on April 30th, it left $4,863,280 of unspent Federal Transit Authority (FTA) dollars on the table, which can be used towards the purchase of two new ferry boats for the Tampa-to-St. Pete service.

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