High Demand Drives Downtown St. Pete Townhome Development
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Over a thousand new residential units will be coming to Downtown St. Pete over the next couple of years. With over 15 developments either under construction or proposed, the combined impact of these projects is creating Tampa Bay’s best community to live, work, and play.
Showing confidence in the Downtown St. Pete market, investor Jeff Craft with NV Holdings is embarking on multiple projects in and around St. Pete’s urban core.
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What began with bouquets at Tampa Bay markets is becoming a place designed to carry people through the day, from morning coffee and flower arranging to wine and small plates in the evening.
Florafête Bouquet Bar, a floral design business founded by Lucy Watkins, plans to open this fall at 400 Beach Drive in downtown St. Pete.
The shop will bring custom arrangements, a build-your-own bouquet bar, retail goods, and a nine-seat wine and coffee bar together under one roof.
The space was previously occupied by Savory Spice Shop, which permanently closed in 2024.
Watkins, a Miami native with decades of hospitality experience, said the concept grew out of an encounter with flower carts while visiting her hometown in 2021.
“At the time, I was just visiting Miami when I saw flower carts not only selling single-stem flowers but also creating full bouquets for people on the street,” Watkins said.
Flower carts are a familiar sight in Miami, which serves as the country’s primary air gateway for imported flowers. Miami International Airport says it handled 91% of U.S. flower imports arriving by air in 2025, with many cut blooms coming from production centers in Colombia and Ecuador.