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.

A major milestone for Florida’s judicial system is nearing completion as the new $59 million Second District Court of Appeal Courthouse prepares to open its doors in downtown St. Petersburg in December.

Located at 525 Mirror Lake Drive North, the three-story, 59,516-square-foot facility sits just one block from City Hall, near the Pinellas County Clerk of Court and other key government buildings.

The courthouse will serve the Sixth Judicial Circuit (Pinellas and Pasco counties), the 12th Circuit (Sarasota, Manatee, and DeSoto counties), and the 13th Circuit (Hillsborough County).

It is named the Bernie McCabe Second District Court of Appeal Courthouse, honoring the late State Attorney for Florida’s Sixth Judicial Circuit.