130-acre Derby Lane redevelopment plans revealed, including housing and a new casino in north St. Pete
/A 380-home apartment and townhome community has been proposed for the eastern side of Derby Lane in north St. Pete, while a later phase calls for demolishing the existing casino building and rebuilding it elsewhere on the property.
The planned redevelopment of the 130-acre site at 10490 Gandy Boulevard North includes residential, commercial, and industrial uses, according to a conceptual plan submitted to Pinellas County in early October.
The proposal follows the April 2025 acquisition of Derby Lane through a merger between St. Petersburg Kennel Club Inc. and Connecticut-based Rally Acquisition Co.
At the time, representatives for the new ownership said they intended to develop the property while continuing its gaming operations, but specific plans had not been disclosed.
Greyhound racing ended at Derby Lane in December 2020 after Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment banning commercial greyhound racing statewide. The facility continues to operate as a gaming venue, offering poker, table games, and simulcast wagering.
Winter Park-based developer Hillpointe is proposing Pointe Grand St. Petersburg, a garden-style residential community on a 27.8-acre site that currently contains more than 20 former greyhound kennels to the southeast, part of the former racing oval and infield, and parking areas stretching north toward Gandy Boulevard.
The existing casino complex would remain during construction of Hillpointe’s project. The conceptual plan identifies the land currently occupied by the casino for a second residential phase, with a replacement gaming venue planned along Gandy Boulevard on the northwestern side of the property.
A timeline for that later work has not been announced.
Hillpointe representatives met with Pinellas County Development Review Services on October 6th to discuss plans for 300 apartments, 80 rental townhomes, and 688 parking spaces.
The community would include a clubhouse, fitness center, swimming pool, dog park, and pickleball courts, along with two stormwater ponds.
The primary entrance would use the existing driveway on Gandy Boulevard, with a second entrance on San Martin Boulevard Northeast. The community would not be gated, and all townhomes would be rentals rather than individually owned homes.
Hillpointe intends to pursue the development under Florida’s Live Local Act, which allows qualifying rental communities to bypass certain local zoning and land use restrictions in exchange for long-term affordability commitments.
The law requires at least 40% of the homes to remain affordable for at least 30 years.
Hillpointe’s representatives did not specify during the meeting how many homes would be income-restricted or what rents would be charged.
Beyond Hillpointe’s community, the broader redevelopment plan identifies roughly 27.6 acres for future residential development, 7.7 acres for the relocated casino, an 8.6-acre commercial parcel along Gandy Boulevard, and approximately 12.1 acres for industrial outdoor storage.
Hillpointe emphasized that it intends to purchase and develop only the land for its initial residential community. The remaining phases would be handled by others.
“We’re just doing Phase One. All the other phases are going to be a different owner,” Alex Adams, Hillpointe’s director of land acquisitions, said during the meeting. “This is the only portion that we’re working on and we’re buying.”
County staff noted that some of the potential future uses would require additional land use approvals. Industrial development, for example, is not permitted under the property’s existing commercial recreation designation.
Several environmental and engineering questions also remain for Hillpointe’s housing proposal.
During the meeting, the developer’s engineer described the site as being within the FEMA floodplain. County staff outlined the flood studies and building elevation requirements the team would need to evaluate, along with a separate federal process if it seeks to revise the flood maps.
Wetlands could affect the layout as well.
County environmental staff noted that a federal wetlands inventory identifies the man-made pond inside the racetrack oval as a wetland. A portion of a proposed apartment building appears to overlap that area, while another mapped wetland overlaps part of the proposed townhome area.
Hillpointe was directed to coordinate with the Southwest Florida Water Management District to determine whether those impacts would be permitted and what mitigation might be required.
A traffic study would also be needed to assess whether the development would require improvements to nearby roads or intersections.
County staff called for a sidewalk along the project’s San Martin Boulevard frontage, providing a connection between Gandy Boulevard to the north and the Weedon Island area to the south. Access from Gandy would require coordination with the Florida Department of Transportation.
Derby Lane opened on January 3, 1925, and hosted greyhound racing for nearly a century. Its grandstands and glass-fronted buildings became familiar landmarks along Gandy Boulevard, where spectators gathered to watch races, place bets, and dine overlooking the track.
Although still preliminary, the plans offer the first detailed look at how one of Pinellas County’s largest redevelopment sites could take shape. No demolition or construction schedule was provided during the October meeting, and the broader redevelopment concept remains preliminary.
