Tampa Bay Rays stadium deal appears dead, city delays vote to fund Trop repairs

Tampa Bay Rays stadium deal appears dead, city delays vote to fund Trop repairs

A plan years in the making to build a modern $1.3 billion ballpark for the Tampa Bay Rays in the heart of downtown St. Pete may be completely dead.

On Thursday, St. Petersburg City Council voted to delay a vote that would approve two bonds totaling $287.5 million in tax-exempt funding for the new stadium, following suit with the Pinellas County Commission which voted to delay their bond funding for a second time earlier this week.

The county commissioners and city councilmembers were hesitant to grant the bond resolution due to the Rays’ lack of communication.

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Miramar Beach Resort expansion, rooftop restaurant approved in St. Pete Beach

Miramar Beach Resort expansion, rooftop restaurant approved in St. Pete Beach

A new 30-unit hotel tower is expected to rise at the Miramar Beach Resort, transforming the property along St. Pete Beach’s shoreline.

During a Tuesday St. Pete Beach planning board meeting, the members unanimously voted to support a conditional use approval (CUP) for the redevelopment and expansion of the resort at 4200 Gulf Boulevard.

The existing two-story, two-building resort, which has been a staple since 1953, would demolish 10 of the existing hotel units in favor of a new 76-foot hotel building at the rear of the site just behind the towering sand dunes.

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Developer behind 46-story 400 Central condo tower to redevelop Mirror Lake property into residential tower

Developer behind 46-story 400 Central condo tower to redevelop Mirror Lake property into residential tower

After St. Pete Rising announced earlier this week that a prime redevelopment site on Mirror Lake was under contract, the developer behind Florida’s tallest residential tower revealed themselves to be the undisclosed buyer.

New York-based Red Apple Group is reportedly set to purchase the property for $13.2 million by the end of the year.

“As Mr. Catsimatidis alluded to recently, we are under contract to acquire this exciting piece of land near beautiful Mirror Lake in the heart of the Sunshine City’s downtown,” Kevin King, director of Florida operations for Red Apple, said in a statement to St. Pete Rising.

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A missed opportunity: St. Pete commission denies bid to convert historic church to event venue

A missed opportunity: St. Pete commission denies bid to convert historic church to event venue

Bricks stacked inside the Euclid Methodist Church are crumbling and gaping holes puncture the ceilings, welcoming black mold throughout the walls in the historic church that one local couple is desperate to save and convert into an event venue with a bed & breakfast operation.

“We are entrepreneurs - you see the disrepair and work needed, but we see how this building can be a beautiful destination and serve the community in a new way,” owners Noam and Irene Krasniansky said to St. Pete Rising during a tour of the 100-year-old church at 919 10th Avenue North.

The fenced-off property, which was added to the St. Petersburg Register of Historic Places in 2004, borders the edge of the Euclid-St. Paul neighborhood where commercial businesses dot Dr. MLK Jr. Street and craftsman-style residences line 10th Street North.

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Prime development site near Mirror Lake under contract, set to close by year end

Prime development site near Mirror Lake under contract, set to close by year end

A New York-based real estate firm is under contract to purchase the prime redevelopment site at 450 3rd Avenue North on the east side of Mirror Lake in downtown St Pete.

Located at the corner of 5th Street North and 3rd Avenue North across from the historic Mirror Lake Community Library, the 0.94-acre property was previously approved to be developed into 23-story mixed-use tower containing 285 apartments and 10,000 square feet of retail space.

The site was formerly home to The Cara Apartments, a cluster of six buildings containing around 100 apartments, before the property was demolished earlier this year.

The current landowners, a group consisting of bitcoin mining company Hyperscale Data (formerly BitNile Holdings), former Illinois Congressman Aaron Schock, and Atlanta-based real estate investor Joshua Haywood, purchased the site for $15.5 million in 2022.

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