Camden Pier District

It’s time to don your laurel crown and toga!  The Simple Greek, a new fast-casual greek restaurant, has revealed plans to open in Downtown St. Pete.  

The new eatery will occupy 2,000 square feet on the ground floor of the AER apartment building, which opened in May 2016.  The other 2,700 square feet will soon be home to Tampa Bay’s first Bento Cafe, an asian kitchen and sushi restaurant.

Think of The Simple Greek as Chipotle, but for greek food.  In other words, customers choose between a bowl or a pita and then follow their order down the counter as their meal is built.  After choosing a protein, such as traditional gyro, chicken gyro, grilled steak or grilled chicken, toppings and sauce are added.  There are ten toppings available — feta cheese, red onions, scallions, tomatoes, cucumbers, kalamata olives and more.  The sauce selection includes tzatziki, greek dressing, garlic cream, and hummus.

The fourth quarter of 2016 saw an enormous amount of progress on many of Downtown St. Pete's active developments.  The demolition of the "cheese grater" building at 400 Central Ave concluded.  The Rowdies launched an official campaign to join the MLS, which included an expanded Al Lang Stadium.  A new site plan was approved for 801 Central, which now includes a 15 and 7-story apartment building and ground-level retail.

Also, a few projects broke ground including Bainbridge 930 Central Flats, and retail along 1st Ave S that will house an Orangetheory Fitness and a yet-to-be-determined restaurant.  

Additionally, AER Apartments and The Hermitage Apartment Homes started leasing, which helped to relieve the extremely low apartment occupancy rates that Downtown St. Pete has grown accustomed to over the past few years. 

Looking to the future, we should see the groundbreaking of a few notable projects this coming quarter including The Brownstones, 801 Conway, The District on 9th, and the Museum of the American Arts and Crafts Movement.

Lastly, be sure to check out Downtown St. Pete's first, second, and third quarter development updates of 2016 to see how your favorite projects have progressed!

Construction continued on some of Downtown St. Pete's largest developments during the second quarter of 2016.  Notably, ONE St. Petersburg is now going vertical, renters began moving into AER Apartments, and construction has started on one of DTSP's newest museums, The James Museum of Western and Wildlife Art.  Be sure to check out last quarter's development update to see each project's progression.

Construction crews have been hard at work in Downtown St. Pete so far this year.  Read more to get the latest construction updates!