New 52,000-square-foot expansion proposed for St. Pete’s Maritime and Defense Technology Hub
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More marine-based startups and private defense firms may soon find a new home along St. Pete’s waterfront.
City and business leaders are spearheading an effort to expand the Maritime and Defense Technology Hub, known locally as The Hub, which opened in 2022 at 450 8th Avenue SE in a city-owned building at the Port of St. Petersburg, just south of Albert Whitted Airport.
The Hub has quickly become a cornerstone for marine science, defense, and technology innovation, now fully occupied by companies such as Saildrone, which deploys autonomous ocean vehicles from St. Pete to map and monitor Florida’s coastal waters, and Pole Star Defense, which uses maritime intelligence technology to track and prevent threats at sea.
Plans for a second facility, dubbed Hub 2.0, call for developing the surface parking lot directly west of the current Hub into a 52,000-square-foot research and collaboration center.
The expansion would provide a home for additional startups, government partners, and academic institutions focused on marine technology, coastal resiliency, and defense innovation.
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A long-delayed project that will deliver 24 affordable homes for working families is nearing completion and preparing to welcome its first residents.
The bright white-and-blue, two-story townhomes line 6th and 7th avenues South near 22nd Street South, directly across from the Manhattan Casino.
The City of St. Petersburg purchased the land in 2007 for $2.2 million using a federal grant. However, the project was not announced until 2019 under former Mayor Rick Kriseman as part of the broader Deuces Rising initiative, which aims to revitalize the Deuces, the historic African American entertainment and business district along the 22nd Street South corridor.
Built by Tampa-based Horus Construction Services, the development includes twelve 1,780-square-foot townhomes with three bedrooms and twelve 1,525-square-foot townhomes with two bedrooms.