Chabad opens 14,000-square-foot Jewish community center in downtown St. Pete
/
The 14,000-square-foot facility is used for worship, celebrations, meetings, education, and more | Chabad Jewish Center of St. Petersburg
After years of holding services in trailers and renting venues for larger gatherings, the Chabad Jewish Center of Greater St. Petersburg has a new downtown home.
The two-story Chabad Center for Jewish Life and Learning at 533 4th Street North brings worship, classes, community meals, and celebrations together in a 14,000-square-foot building with a sanctuary, social hall, classrooms, library, commercial kosher kitchen, and rooftop deck.
Rabbi Alter Korf and his wife, Chaya Korf, celebrated the opening alongside hundreds of community members and supporters at a ribbon-cutting ceremony this past Sunday, October 25th. Programming began in the building in April.
“Today we don’t just mark the completion of the building but celebrate the beginning of a new era,” Rabbi Korf said during the ceremony.
The opening marks a significant change for an organization that has spent more than two decades working out of smaller spaces across St. Petersburg.
The Korfs founded the local Chabad in 2002, initially operating from a stilt house along the bay. Hurricane concerns and the need for more room led to a move into a 1,000-square-foot storefront on Central Avenue.
The organization later relocated to 4010 Park Street North, where multiple trailers totaling more than 2,000 square feet housed weekly services, Hebrew school, and other activities.
As participation grew, larger gatherings, including High Holiday services and community challah bakes, required rented hotel and event space.
The new Chabad Jewish Center of Greater St. Petersburg celebrated its grand opening this week | st. pete rising
“For more than two decades, for so many individuals and families, Chabad has meant one thing: family,” Chaya said during the opening ceremony. “You are welcomed as you are, no judgment here.”
The new center gives those activities a permanent home under one roof.
On the first floor, a conference room provides space for adult education, while a youth education wing includes classrooms and an outdoor patio.
A glass stairwell leads to the second-floor sanctuary and social hall, where a movable partition allows the space to accommodate different gatherings.
The center’s programming includes Hebrew school, Bar and Bat Mitzvah training, teen activities, adult education, women’s events, a Mommy and Me program, and summer camp for children ages 5 through 12.
Chabad directly operates the commercial kosher kitchen, which serves weekly Shabbat dinners, Sunday breakfasts, holidays, and events.
A rooftop deck provides additional outdoor gathering space.
The building was designed by Mike Muroff of Purdy + Muroff Architecture and Heshy Hecht of HH Designers and built by Bandes Construction.
Its completion follows a multiyear construction and fundraising effort.
Chabad purchased the half-acre property for $1.7 million in 2019 and broke ground in April 2023.
the new center features a sanctuary, social hall, classrooms, a commercial kosher kitchen, library, and rooftop deck.| Chabad Jewish Center of St. Petersburg
Korf said permitting, post-pandemic supply chain disruptions and cost increases, interior construction, and the pace of fundraising all contributed to the timeline.
“We chose to do it right rather than fast, and we couldn’t be prouder of the result,” Korf said in an email to St. Pete Rising.
The organization has raised $8 million toward its $10.9 million campaign, with contributions from more than 100 families and supporters.
Naming opportunities remain available for portions of the center, including the building itself.
A planned Holocaust memorial has not yet been installed. Korf said it will be completed soon and dedicated at a later date.
Chabad operates without a formal paid membership roster, welcoming participants across all levels of Jewish observance. Hundreds of community members and families take part in its programs and events.
For the Korfs, the opening fulfills a vision developed over years of moving between spaces and finding room for a growing community.
“When Chaya and I first dreamt of this center, we envisioned a beautiful home for our growing community,” Korf said at the ceremony. “Well, my friends, what was once a dream is standing before your eyes.”
the facility’s open-air rooftop can host bar mitzvah celebrations and other professional events | st. pete rising
