Century-old Playhouse Theatre to be demolished for redevelopment in the Grand Central District
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Boarded-up windows and crumbling stucco line the exterior of the former Playhouse Theatre—a once-thriving venue for the latest Hollywood movies and traveling performers.
The long-vacant, 100-year-old theater at 1850 Central Avenue may soon be demolished to make way for a new development featuring office space and retail.
The site is located next to an Interstate 275 overpass and adjacent to the Trails Crossing development, a proposed linear park featuring public art and event spaces that is being studied for the area under I-275.
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The City of St. Petersburg has closed a $6.4 million land sale for The Central, a planned $200 million mixed-use development in the EDGE District, completing a property transfer that had held up construction for months.
The deal was signed on Election Day, November 3rd, the same day Charlie Crist defeated Mayor Ken Welch, transferring portions of the former police headquarters property at 1300 1st Avenue North to entities affiliated with Ellison Development.
The closing clears the way for continued work on the 2.1-acre development, which will include Class A offices, a Marriott Autograph Collection hotel, retail space, 42 workforce apartments, and public gathering spaces.
“This is a big day for The Central and for the EDGE District,” Casey Ellison, president and CEO of Ellison Development, said in a press release. “The excitement surrounding this project has continued to grow, and this milestone brings us one step closer to delivering a destination that will create new opportunities and fresh energy to the neighborhood.”
For nearby businesses and residents, the most visible progress so far has been the 531-space public parking garage, which opened in June 2025 across from Ferg’s Sports Bar.
The sale excludes 400 parking spaces spread across five floors of the garage, matching the number of public spaces promised when the redevelopment proposal was selected in 2019.