Downtown St. Pete may see its first significant office development in 12 years
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Downtown St. Pete may get its first new office building in nearly three decades if the city accepts an offer from UPC Insurance to expand it’s headquarter’s to a lot along 1st Avenue South. The city has long discussed offering Jabil this site in an attempt to lure them into building a new corporate headquarters in Downtown St. Pete. However, when Jabil ultimately chose to rebuild and expand its existing office complex in North St. Pete, UPC took notice and began exploring plans of their own.
On July 19, 2018, the City of St. Pete received a letter from UPC Insurance stating their desire and intent to acquire the entire 800 block of 1st Avenue South for the purposes of constructing and occupying a new corporate headquarters.
UPC Insurance currently owns a 42,000 square foot building across the street at 800 2nd Avenue South, which formerly housed the Downtown St. Pete AAA office, as well as a smaller 8,000 square foot building at 724 2nd Avenue South. They also currently lease a parking lot from the city which is adjacent to their 800 2nd Avenue South building.
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After years of planning, Craft Kafe is targeting an early October opening for a new cafe and commissary kitchen in St. Pete’s Skyway Marina District.
The homegrown eatery and bakery, known for specialty coffee and a scratch-made gluten-free menu, is putting the finishing touches on its third St. Pete cafe at 4725 34th Street South in the Marina Village shopping plaza, just south of the Marina Walk Apartments.
The 4,700-square-foot space will include a 1,000-square-foot cafe and a large production kitchen designed to supply Craft’s existing stores and support future expansion, according to the owners.
“We’ve planned this one month after opening our first store in St. Pete. Because of the pandemic, issues in logistics, and losing my home from the hurricanes, this has taken so long to open,” founder and owner Teddy Skiadiotis told St. Pete Rising during a private tour.