Beloved downtown diner expands with new location on Pasadena Avenue

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Beloved downtown diner expands with new location on Pasadena Avenue

Central Diner, the downtown St. Pete staple known for its no-frills breakfasts, oversized portions, and loyal following, has quietly expanded west.

The longtime neighborhood favorite, at 530 Central Avenue, has opened a second location at 2525 Pasadena Avenue South in the Village Plaza in South Pasadena.

The expansion is a big step for a spot that has been part of St. Pete’s food scene for almost fifty years.

Central Diner began in 1975 as Central Coffee Shoppe, opened by John and Chris Mangels.

Over the years it became a go-to eatery for downtown workers, long-time residents, and anyone craving a dependable plate of pancakes or corned beef hash.

Their daughters, Michelle, Cassie, and Nicole, took over the restaurant in 2004 and continued running it until 2018.

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Former Hippie Shack and Sea Hags building set to be demolished and redeveloped on St. Pete Beach

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Former Hippie Shack and Sea Hags building set to be demolished and redeveloped on St. Pete Beach

The restaurant building at Blind Pass Marina on St. Pete Beach is set to be demolished.

The structure, most recently home to the short-lived Hippie Shack and Sea Hags before that, suffered significant storm damage during last year’s hurricanes and will be torn down to make way for a new outdoor dining destination.

Property owners Ping Pong Partners, a company formed by developer Steve Gianfilippo, have submitted a Conditional Use Permit to the City of St. Pete Beach outlining plans for a complete transformation of the site at 9555 Blind Pass Road.

Gianfilippo is known locally for creating two popular co-working and event spaces: Station House in downtown St. Petersburg and Hyde House Public Studio in Tampa’s Hyde Park Village.

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Green Light Cinema expanding with new restaurant and bar in downtown St. Pete

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Green Light Cinema expanding with new restaurant and bar in downtown St. Pete

Green Light Cinema, St. Pete’s only independent art house theater, is expanding by opening a restaurant and bar next door.

Owners Mike and Sue Hazlett are converting the neighboring space at 225 2nd Avenue North into Green Light Lounge and Kitchen, a 3,300-square-foot venue where guests can grab a bite, have a drink, and enjoy live entertainment before or after catching a film.

The space was previously home to Main Grove and before that Hops 2.0.

“People often leave a screening asking where they should go next,” Hazlett explains. “Now, the answer is right next door. You can come early, have dinner or a drink, see a show, and not spend a fortune.”

The expansion builds on the Hazletts’ vision for Green Light Cinema, which they opened in 2020 to fill what they saw as a gap in downtown St. Pete’s cultural offerings.

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Postcard Inn permanently closes on St. Pete Beach, will reopen as The Luce, a Marriott Tribute Portfolio Hotel

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Postcard Inn permanently closes on St. Pete Beach, will reopen as The Luce, a Marriott Tribute Portfolio Hotel

After decades as a popular St. Pete Beach destination, the Postcard Inn has officially closed its doors for good.

The hotel at 6300 Gulf Boulevard, which has remained vacant since last year’s back-to-back hurricanes, will soon be renovated into The Luce, a Marriott Tribute Portfolio hotel scheduled to open next year.

The change marks the end of an era for the resort, originally built in 1957 as the Colonial Gateway Inn and reimagined as the Postcard Inn in 2009.

In 2024, the hotel’s owners proposed an 87-room expansion to the Postcard Inn, but those plans were ultimately abandoned after Hurricanes Helene and Milton caused significant damage.

The LCP Group, which purchased the property in March 2022 for $83 million, is overseeing a full renovation of the nine-acre beachfront resort, working alongside management firm Crescent Hotels & Resorts.

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Beef O’Brady’s to replace Applebee's on 66th Street in west St. Pete

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Beef O’Brady’s to replace Applebee's on 66th Street in west St. Pete

A new Beef O’Brady’s restaurant is coming to west St. Pete.

The restaurant and sports bar will open at 2901 66th Street North, taking over the former Applebee’s building that closed abruptly in May, according to plans obtained by St. Pete Rising.

It will become St. Pete’s second Beef O’Brady’s, joining the location at 4775 34th Street South in the Skyway Marina District. The only other Pinellas County location is in Oldsmar.

The new restaurant will accommodate 182 guests indoors and 49 outdoors, for a total of 231 seats.

Built in 1972, The 5,853-square-foot building was home to various restaurant concepts in the 1990s, including Longshoreman Restaurant, The Knot Garden, and Suki’s before becoming an Applebee’s in the early 2000s.

Although Applebee’s still operates its St. Pete location at 4700 4th Street North, SEC filings show the chain’s total store count declined from 1,578 in 2021 to 1,501 in 2024.

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23-story Gallery Haus apartment tower set to break ground near Tropicana Field in downtown St. Pete

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23-story Gallery Haus apartment tower set to break ground near Tropicana Field in downtown St. Pete

A team of Miami-based developers is preparing to bring a new wave of residential living to downtown St. Pete.

LD&D, in partnership with IGEQ and Black Salmon, has finalized plans for Gallery Haus, a 23-story, $115 million apartment tower that will rise at 155 17th Street South, directly across from Tropicana Field and along the Pinellas Trail.

The development will contain 254 apartments, more than 10,000 square feet of amenities, and 7,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

LD&D purchased the 0.77-acre site from Apogee Real Estate Partners in late 2023 for just over $9 million. Apogee had previously secured site plan approval for a similar tower with 204 units in 2022.

Gallery Haus is an expansion of LD&D’s “Haus” portfolio, which includes Wynwood Haus in Miami’s Wynwood Arts District and Williamsburg Haus in Brooklyn.

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Several developments move forward along The Deuces corridor in south St. Pete

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Several developments move forward along The Deuces corridor in south St. Pete

After years of promises to revive 22nd Street South, the City of St. Pete is finally making progress on projects expected to bring new life back to The Deuces.

From the 1940s through the 1960s, 22nd Street South, from 2nd Avenue to 18th Avenue, was the heart of St. Pete’s Black community, filled with thriving businesses, music clubs, and restaurants.

But after I-275 cut through the area in the mid 1970s, the busy corridor slowly fell into decline.

Now, with a growing pipeline of new developments on the horizon, the Deuces is beginning to show signs of revival.

At a community meeting this week at the Enoch Davis Center, city officials gave updates on several ongoing projects.

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133-unit luxury condo project Corey Landing approved for St. Pete Beach

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133-unit luxury condo project Corey Landing approved for St. Pete Beach

The long-anticipated redevelopment of the east end of Corey Avenue in St. Pete Beach is officially moving forward.

On Tuesday evening, City Commission unanimously approved revised plans for Corey Landing, a mixed-use development led by Kolter Urban which features two eight story buildings with 133 luxury condominiums, 11,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space within a freestanding building, and a new public park.

In 2022, the city approved a separate proposal from Ram Realty Advisors, also called Corey Landing.

Ram, which exited the project in 2023, had planned a 243-unit apartment complex with more than 17,000 square feet of retail, a restaurant, office space, and a 39-slip marina.

Kolter Urban acquired the property the following year for $9.85 million and expanded the site to include two adjacent parcels not part of Ram’s plan: the former Charlie’s Transmissions property at 75 Corey Avenue and the shuttered Blue Parrott restaurant at 85 Corey Circle. Both structures have since been demolished.

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Bojangles opens next week in Pinellas Park

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Bojangles opens next week in Pinellas Park

Bojangles, the beloved Southern chain known for its fried chicken, biscuits, and sweet tea, will officially open its new Pinellas Park restaurant next Tuesday, November 4, at 5:30 a.m.

The opening marks the brand’s return to the area, where it last operated four decades ago.

Located at 7930 U.S. Highway 19 North, the new 2,414-square-foot Bojangles replaces a former Burger King on an outparcel of a retail plaza anchored by Ashley Furniture, across from Walmart Supercenter.

The site features a single-lane drive-thru.

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$33 million Tierra Verde Marina redevelopment revised again, could become Florida’s second-largest boat storage facility

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$33 million Tierra Verde Marina redevelopment revised again, could become Florida’s second-largest boat storage facility

A Tampa-based developer has refined its plans to transform the aging seven-acre Tierra Verde Marina property, adding new public amenities and retail while addressing concerns from nearby residents.

Since the proposal was first introduced in March, Greenleaf Capital has made several key revisions to its $33 million, two-phase redevelopment at 100 Pinellas Bayway South.

The project, which was originally slated to go before St. Pete’s Development Review Commission (DRC) in October, has been rescheduled to December to accommodate additional design and a traffic analysis.

One of the community’s main concerns was losing the existing retail space at the marina. In response, the developer has added 2,400 square feet of new retail space to the latest plan, which could be divided into up to three storefronts and will be included in Phase 1 of construction.

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