I'm a little late with this post but nonetheless I'm very excited to tell you about ONE St.Petersburg, a huge new project in the heart of downtown. ONE St.Petersburg will be a 41 story, 253 unit condo tower complemented by a garage and retail base along with a second tower featuring 174 hotel rooms.
The Kolter Group is developing this $120 million project that will likely become St.Petersburg's tallest building.
Read MoreLast week Sundial released its tenant lineup and announced it was 90% leased. I've given the store lineup a few days to sink in and I must say that while I'm not taken aback by the stores, I am impressed. In today's retail market it takes a lot for a brand to risk opening a store, let alone in a previously failed downtown retail center.
While there isn't a famed J.Crew or an Apple store, what we got is a very diverse mix of national and local retailers, which I think is great.
One of the biggest mysteries surrounding Sundial St.Pete is whether or not its tenant lineup will create a shopping and dining destination. In its heyday, Baywalk was a booming shopping center with bustling shops and restaurants but controversy sunk the retail complex and brought vacancy rates close to 90%. Sundial St.Pete hopes revive the shopping center and give it new glory. I'm confident that Bill Edwards will bring a strong tenant list to- once again- make the complex a top destination. Recently the Tampa Bay Times revealed that a Marilyn Monroe spa and possibly a Ruth's Chris Steak House will be among the tenants in Sundial. Joining these two tenants are the return of Chico's and White House Black Market.
Read MoreThe shopping center formerly known as Baywalk which was renamed to The Shops at St.Pete now has a new name: Sundial. The plaza is currently undergoing a $40 million renovation and is set to open in the spring. Sundial St.Pete has released a website touting itself as:
AN EXCLUSIVE COLLECTION OF BOUTIQUES, RESTAURANTS AND NIGHTLIFE, ALL IN THE HEART OF DOWNTOWN ST. PETERSBURG
Hopefully Sundial St.Pete will release its tenant list soon.
For more information visit: http://sundialstpete.com
Via Tampa Bay Times
A recent article from the Tampa Bay Business Journal discusses how rental rates on Beach Drive in Downtown St.Petersburg have gone from $30 to $50 a square foot over the last few years. This steep increase follows high demand on the popular street that has little to no vacancy. According to the article the average retail rental price for the rest of Downtown St.Petersburg is $16.93, almost a third of the going price along Beach Drive. These high rental rates on Beach Drive must be good news for Bill Edwards, owner of the The Shops at St.Pete. Opening sometime this year, The Shops are one block west of Beach Drive and across the street from the Ovation condo tower. It makes sense to think that The Shops will benefit from the lack of available space on Beach Drive. Although I doubt The Shops will be able to fetch $50 sq/ft they will probably be well above the $16.93 sq/ft in the rest of downtown.
Read MoreWalkable neighborhoods have always helped bring life to urban centers. Millennials, or people born between 1980 to the early 2000s, tend to favor more urban environments than their predecessors. These Generation Y'ers are bringing rapid growth to once decaying urban centers. But, millennials have needs- they prefer to live in neighborhoods where they don't have to use a car and can walk to a majority of their errands. The University Village shopping center in Downtown St. Petersburg has helped ease the millennials in their transition from suburban to urban living. Anchored by Publix, among other retailers, this shopping center is the only grocery store in the downtown area.
But could Downtown St.Petersburg be getting a second grocer?
Read MoreSt. Pete Rising is an urban development blog covering retail, restaurants, and real estate in Downtown St. Petersburg, FL
