One of Pinellas County’s biggest tourism draws, the Dalí Museum, has submitted a capital projects funding request to the county’s Tourist Development Council in hopes of receiving $17.5 million in public funding to construct a $38.6 million expansion. Since opening in its current location in 2011, the Dali Museum has drawn between 360,000 and 450,000 visitors per year, over 75% of whom are from outside the area. The Dalí Museum is the largest single-artist museum in the United States and is the most-visited art museum in Florida. 

But the museum has bigger plans for the future. They want to expand to accommodate 50% more visitors and they’re estimating the proposed expansion will bring in an additional 900,000 visitors over a ten year period. The expansion would consist of three components — a new digital Dali permanent exhibit, community & education space, and a parking garage...

Last week a Miami real estate investment group closed on the purchase of Downtown St. Pete’s historic McCrory Building at 433 Central Avenue. The sale, which is one of many recent transactions in the immediate area, sold to Tricera Capital for just under $6 million.

The sale represents the ninth acquisition for the group in the greater downtown area. In addition to 433 Central Avenue, Tricera also owns 658-670 Central Avenue which houses restaurants such as Pacific Counter, Maple Street Biscuit Company, and Brass Bowl & Juicery as well as the Furnish Me Vintage building at 1246 Central Avenue. The group’s St. Pete holdings are primarily focused on the Central Avenue corridor in the Central Arts District, EDGE District, and Grand Central District.

Built in 1904, the McCrory Building served as the backdrop for many historic photos of St. Pete’s iconic green benches. The building’s current tenants include Pin Wok & Bowl, La V Vietnamese Fusion, and Luna Loca in the ground floor and the Rising Tide Innovation Center in the 2nd floor office space.

There aren’t many neighborhoods in Tampa Bay that are growing faster than Downtown St. Pete’s booming EDGE District, which is identified as the area around Central Avenue between 9th Street and 16th Street. In the past few months, we’ve witnessed the completion of 930 Central Flats which brought 218 new apartments to the neighborhood, the opening of Green Bench Brewing’s Webb’s City Cellar, which boasts Florida’s largest beer cellar, and just last week we celebrated the grand opening of the new $79 million headquarters for the St. Pete Police Department.

On top of that, the area has also seen the opening of multiple retail shops like Atlas Body + Home, a men’s clothing boutique, and Retrograde Goods, a shop selling locally handmade products. Some businesses, like Kalamazoo Olive Company, which was located closer to the downtown core at 449 Central Avenue, have relocated to the EDGE District. Kalamazoo’s new store opened last Friday at 1010 Central Avenue.