April 28, 2025

Cheeky’s seafood restaurant and raw bar reveals opening date for Grand Central District spot

April 28, 2025/ Veronica Brezina

Tampa native Nate Siegel, the co-founder behind Tampa’s award-winning Willa’s and Willa’s Provisions, has announced an opening date for his new neighborhood seafood restaurant and raw bar in St. Pete.

Cheeky's, Siegel's latest concept inspired by New England oyster bars and Southern fish shacks, will open on Wednesday, May 7th at 2823 Central Avenue in the Grand Central District.

First announced in 2023, the restaurant will occupy a portion of the building previously home to China Finders, a specialty china shop that closed in 2023 after more than 30 years in business.

“Coming to St. Pete is a dream come true, and opening a new place like Cheeky’s along Central Avenue is so exciting,” Siegel said in a prepared statement. “This is already such a special community, and I’m honored to become a part of it alongside my friends and neighbors at Bandit, Baba, Wild Child, and more.”

April 16, 2025

100-year-old storm-damaged building in downtown St. Pete expected to be demolished for boutique hotel

April 16, 2025/ Veronica Brezina

After suffering significant damage from last year’s back-to-back hurricanes, a 10-story, 100-year-old building in downtown St. Pete is expected to be demolished and replaced with a boutique hotel.

Local entrepreneur and developer Steve Gianfilippo of Gianco Companies, who purchased the building at 300 Central Avenue in 2017, filed plans on Monday with the City of St. Pete for a 16-story hotel, named The Coronet, which will incorporate mid-century design elements reminiscent of the original structure.

The existing, vacant structure will undergo interim repairs while plans for the new hotel are being drawn up.

“In the seven years that I’ve owned the building, we’ve looked at a few different options,” said Gianfilippo in a conversation with St. Pete Rising. “At first, we considered turning it into fully furnished apartments. But with thousands of new apartments already planned or built recently, we saw a larger opportunity to bring a new boutique hotel to downtown St. Pete.”

September 23, 2024

Inside Reflection, the newly completed 18-story condo tower soaring above Mirror Lake

September 23, 2024/ Veronica Brezina

Soaring 18 stories above Mirror Lake, the newly-completed Reflection condominium tower has started welcoming its first wave of residents.

At 200 feet tall, Reflection is the tallest building in the Mirror Lake neighborhood with 88 condominium residences, a rooftop pool and entertainment area, and 2,800 square feet of retail space at 777 3rd Avenue North in downtown St. Petersburg.

"We just received our Certificate of Occupancy [CO] for the full tower and clearance for the rooftop pool," HP Capital Principal Fred Hemmer said to St. Pete Rising while doing a walkthrough tour of the luxury tower.

August 19, 2024

Construction to begin on new SunRunner bus rapid transit station near Beach Drive

August 19, 2024/ Veronica Brezina

Construction will soon begin on a new SunRunner station in downtown St. Pete that will increase ridership for the bus rapid transit line.

“Beach to Burg” is a tagline used by the SunRunner bus rapid transit (BRT) system, which is the first high frequency transit line of its kind in Tampa Bay.

The $44-million, 10.3-mile route debuted in October 2022 and links downtown St. Petersburg to St. Pete Beach via dedicated lanes running along 1st Avenue North and 1st Avenue South.

At present, the SunRunner has 30 stops, with buses arriving about every 15 minutes. The new station will be built near the Sundial Parking Garage at 150 1st Avenue North in downtown St. Pete.

February 27, 2016

801 Conway Residences Destined for Downtown St. Pete

February 27, 2016/ Brian Zucker

The residential boom in Downtown St. Petersburg is showing no signs of slowing down. One more project will add to the 2,000+ residential units that are either under construction or proposed for the downtown area. This summer, construction will begin on 801 Conway, a new 35-unit townhome community located on the corner of Burlington Street and 8th Street North, just four blocks from the bustling Central Avenue. Each residence will range from around 1,300 to 2,200 square feet.