What can Downtown St. Pete learn from European cities?
/St. Petersburg seems to be getting a lot of attention these days. And why shouldn’t it? We live in a city with good parks and trails, easy access to water, a bayfront downtown, and funky Central Avenue to tie it all together. And all of this without much traffic thanks to the well-connected street grid. Even though the city, and especially the downtown and Central Avenue, have made great strides in the last 5-10 years (as the long-time locals keep reminding me), the urban planner in me is always looking for ways to make a good thing better. And while some hesitate to look across the Atlantic for inspiration, I find there is much to learn from European cities and their immersive urban environments, especially as it relates to the downtown area.
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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.