Affordable Housing Redevelopment Proposed for 5th Avenue North
/A 22-unit affordable housing complex on 5th Avenue North will soon be rebuilt from the ground up according to plans which were recently approved by St. Pete’s Development Review Commission (DRC).
Last Wednesday, Boley Centers, a provider of community-based services and affordable housing in Pinellas, Manatee, Pasco and Sarasota counties, received approval for the redevelopment of an existing affordable housing project at on the northwest corner of 5th Avenue North and Grove Street in Historic Uptown.
Currently the site houses the Butterfly Apartments, a 12-unit building at 715 5th Avenue N, and the Grove Street Apartments, a 10-unit building at 508 Grove Street N. The buildings were built in 1925 and 1950, respectively, and have been owned by Boley Centers for the past 24 years.
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More than five years after it was first announced, modern Asian restaurant Kojo is finally ready to welcome diners to downtown St. Pete.
Kojo will soft open Friday, November 13th, at 5 p.m. on the third floor of Central Park, the five-story food hall at 551 Central Avenue.
Reservations for the restaurant are available through Resy.
Unlike the fast-casual food hall downstairs, Kojo will offer a full-service dining experience, seating about 115 guests in its dining room and at the kitchen counter. The restaurant specializes in modern Asian cuisine, drawing on flavors from Japan, China, Korea, and Taiwan.
“Full-service restaurants are really what we have been doing as a company,” Robert Castellon, Director of Operations at Hi Hospitality Group, said in a conversation with St. Pete Rising. “The food hall is our first step in a different direction. We created a format where guests can build their own experience. So it feels awesome to step back into our comfort zone.”
The menu at Kojo offers plenty of options for sharing, including shrimp and pork gyoza, truffled chicken wontons, and crispy chicken wings tossed in a Sichuan soy glaze.