Apt 34, a new beer and wine bar, is bringing NYC house-party vibes to downtown St. Pete

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Apt 34, a new beer and wine bar, will open later this year at 556 1st Avenue North in downtown St. pete |Storyn Studio

For nearly a decade, a tiny sixth-floor walk-up in Hell’s Kitchen became something much bigger than an apartment.

From 2015 to 2024, St. Pete native Nico Leeper lived with roommates in Apartment 34 at 312 West 48th Street in Manhattan, where a rooftop overlooking Midtown gradually became a gathering place for friends, neighbors, and plenty of people they had never met before.

They called it the 312 Roof Club.

On any given night, the rooftop might host a barbecue, piano concert, political rally, Derby Day party, charity fundraiser, inflatable pool party, wedding reception, or just a bunch of friends hanging out over drinks.

Now Leeper is bringing that same energy home.

Apt 34, a new beer and wine bar inspired by Leeper’s former apartment and the community that grew around it, is coming soon to 554 1st Avenue North in downtown St. Pete, next to St. Pete Brewing Company.

“It should feel like you’re coming to a house party in a Hell’s Kitchen apartment,” Leeper said in a conversation with St. Pete Rising.

A photo from one of Apt 34’s annual black-tie Christmas parties in New York City | Apt 34

Guests will enter through a small “lobby,” complete with a vintage apartment mailbox, before emerging onto the “roof,” an area with soaring ceilings, patio-style furniture, bistro lights, and lighting meant to mimic stars overhead.

From there, guests will enter the “kitchen,” where the main bar will resemble a kitchen island, before moving into a living room outfitted with couches and a mantle. A private booth will serve as the “bedroom,” complete with a daybed.

“We didn’t design a bar,” Leeper recalled his design team telling him. “We designed an apartment.”

For Leeper, the concept is deeply personal.

He was born at Bayfront, grew up in Crescent Heights, and attended Canterbury School before leaving St. Pete to attend Columbia University in New York City.

After college, he joined equity crowdfunding startup SeedInvest, where he worked from 2014 until 2021.

Nico Leeper, owner of Apt 34 | Apt 34

But arguably the more important thing that happened during his time in New York came in 2015, when he moved into Apartment 34.

The apartment wasn't exactly glamorous.

The sixth-floor walk-up had no elevator or central air, but a sliding glass door from Leeper’s bedroom opened onto the roof, which Leeper and his friends gradually turned into their own backyard in the middle of Manhattan.

Over the years, Leeper and his friends added couches, chaise lounges, planters, trees, astroturf, and eventually a neon “312 Roof Club” sign.

At one point, friends occupied 12 of the building’s 36 apartments.

During the summer, people were constantly upstairs grilling and hanging out. Other nights became full-blown events.

Apartment 34 in Manhattan inspired Leeper’s new downtown St. Pete bar, Apt 34 | Apt 34

There were Derby Day parties, movie nights, pool parties involving a nine-by-ten-foot inflatable pool filled with a hose snaked up the side of the building, and an annual black-tie Christmas party that could draw 250 to 300 people.

“It was a magical place,” Leeper said.

Pieces of the original apartment will now find a second life in St. Pete. The 312 Roof Club neon sign is coming to Apt 34, along with the actual door from Leeper’s former bedroom.

Leeper’s path from venture capital to hospitality began during the pandemic, when SeedInvest went remote and he realized how much he missed interacting with people.

Despite never having bartended before, Leeper put in his notice and spent nearly two years bartending at his favorite neighborhood “Cheers” bar.

“I absolutely loved it,” Leeper said.

A sliding glass door from Leeper’s bedroom opened onto the roof, which Leeper and his friends gradually turned into their own backyard in the middle of Manhattan | Apt 34

It wasn’t necessarily making drinks that hooked him. It was interacting with people and becoming part of a neighborhood gathering place.

Leeper eventually decided he wanted to open a place of his own and returned home to St. Pete in 2024.

He spent time getting reacquainted with a hospitality scene that had changed dramatically since he left for college.

What surprised him most was how much St. Pete's bars reminded him of his favorite neighborhood spots in New York.

“The hospitality scene here, it felt very homegrown,” Leeper said. “My favorite bars in New York were the ones where you sat down and it felt like you could strike up a conversation with anybody. You walked in and you just felt like it was a place that you belonged.”

Rather than immediately open a bar, he spent time working around the local hospitality scene, including stints at Try Wine and Tampa Bay Drinkery before joining Bar Chinchilla, where he has worked since December 2024.

Guests will enter through a small “lobby,” complete with a vintage apartment mailbox, before emerging onto the “roof,” an area with soaring ceilings, patio-style furniture, bistro lights, and lighting meant to mimic stars overhead | Apt 34

Now he’s putting those experiences into Apt 34.

The new bar will feature 16 taps, split evenly between beer and wine.

Leeper plans to offer a mix of local and craft beer, while most of the wine will also be served on draft.

Beer will be poured into reusable red Solo-style cups, another nod to the house-party experience.

The bartenders will also be expected to act more like party hosts than traditional bartenders.

“The bartender’s role is host first, bartender second,” Leeper said.

Music will start quieter earlier in the evening and become more energetic as the night progresses, with bartenders reading the room and controlling the playlist.

There won’t be a DJ booth, and the lone television will typically remain off. There also won’t be USB chargers at the bar.

“This is a place to connect with humans,” Leeper said.

Beer will be poured into reusable red Solo-style cups, another nod to the house-party experience | Apt 34

Food won’t be available when Apt 34 first opens, but Leeper eventually hopes to introduce cicchetti, small Venetian-style bites typically served with wine. He is also considering collaborations that would allow local chefs to put their own spin on the format.

Apt 34 will host occasional events inspired by the original 312 Roof Club, including Derby Day and Christmas parties, along with potential trivia, bingo, live music, and random theme nights.

The buildout at 554 1st Avenue North is being designed by St. Pete-based Storyn Studio, with Leeper working closely with Evan Vander Ploeg, one of his oldest friends.

The two have known each other since they were two years old, and Vander Ploeg visited Leeper in New York and attended parties at the original Apartment 34.

“He understands what we’re trying to create,” Leeper said.

Leeper hopes to have Apt 34 open in late 2026, ideally in time for the holidays, although the opening could slip into early 2027.

Ultimately, he hopes Apt 34 recreates something he loved about both Hell’s Kitchen and St. Pete: bars where people of different ages and backgrounds can walk in, strike up a conversation, and feel like they belong.

“Come as you are,” Leeper said.

Or, as Apt 34 puts it more simply: Welcome to the best house party in St. Pete.