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.

When Jeff and Jody Musselman opened Salty Pup Coffeehouse and Wine Bar in Gulfport, the business was meant to be a new chapter.

The couple had moved back to the area after years in Atlanta, where they sold their home and said goodbye to Hampton, their 14-year-old labradoodle. They named the café after him.

Hampton was their “salty dog,” Jody told St. Pete Rising at the time, because he had a little attitude.

Nearly two years later, the Gulfport community that embraced their small coffee shop is helping make room for an even bigger idea.

The Musselmans plan to relocate The Salty Pup from 5004 Tangerine Avenue South to 4700 22nd Avenue South, a 5,348 square-foot warehouse that will also house Electric Flamingo, a new vintage marketplace with vendor booths, art displays, and space for up to 29 local sellers.

The couple is targeting a December opening, pending construction and permitting.

A new Pan-Asian quick-service restaurant has opened in Pinellas Park, but this one comes with a unique feature: a drive thru.

That’s right, hungry diners can now get ramen, rice bowls, and boba straight from a drive thru window on their way home.

Ninja Ramen quietly opened about two weeks ago at 11180 66th Street North in Pinellas Park, in a space formerly home to Subway.

The menu includes six noddle dishes and eight rice bowls.

The ramen offerings include a seafood oden ramen, a roast pork ramen, a Chongqing spicy ramen, a braised beef tomato ramen, and the Sumo Teriyaki Chicken features chicken katsu with teriyaki glaze, fried rice and stir-fried noodles.

A permanent ferry dock at the St. Pete Pier moved closer to reality Friday, as the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority celebrated $850,000 in newly secured federal funding for the future Tampa Bay Ferry terminal.

PSTA leaders joined U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch, and representatives from Hubbard’s Marina at the Pier to announce the funding, which will help support a new dock near the St. Petersburg Museum of History.

The permanent facility is planned to include a security gate, ticket booth, and ADA-compliant access. It is expected to accommodate two ferry vessels at once, according to Captain Dylan Hubbard of Hubbard’s Marina.

“This is a key piece in the puzzle,” PSTA CEO Brad Miller said during the event.

The federal funding, secured by Castor through the Fiscal Year 2026 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill, comes as PSTA prepares to relaunch passenger ferry service between downtown St. Pete and Tampa later this year.

As St. Petersburg adds apartments, condos, and offices, the City is trying a new approach to help ensure the artists and galleries that helped shape downtown are not priced out of it.

City Council unanimously approved an arts funding development bonus on August 27th, creating a new way for developers to support local artists and arts organizations while pursuing additional building space for their projects.

For local arts advocates, the vote brought the City one step closer to creating a dependable source of funding for artists and arts organizations.

“The holy grail for the arts community in St. Pete has been to find a sustainable funding source to support the arts,” said Paul Carter, a downtown resident and member of the City’s Arts Advisory Committee.

The policy is not a change that will allow developers to build more densely than they could before. Instead, it adds another option to the City’s existing selection of floor area ratio, or FAR, bonuses.

FAR is a zoning measurement that determines how much total building space can be constructed on a site relative to its land area. In certain zoning districts, such as downtown, the City already allows developers to earn FAR bonuses by providing public benefits that support community priorities.

For years, The Joint’s patio had the bones of a great outdoor hangout: space to sit, a neighborhood crowd, and the kind of laid-back setting that feels made for a cold beer and a game on TV.

What it did not have was much protection from Florida’s sun and rain.

That is about to change. The Joint, the longtime Jungle Terrace tavern at 7630 34th Avenue North, has added a covered patio, an outdoor bar, fans, and seven TVs.

Owners Ben Scherlis and Francesco “Fran” Balzano expect to welcome customers into the new space later this month, although an opening date has not yet been finalized.

“We just wanted to open this space up and make it a whole new outdoor concept where people can sit outside, order food and drinks, and watch TV, same as you could inside,” Scherlis said in a conversation with St. Pete Rising. “It’s just giving people another option.”

On a busy Friday night, the challenge at Mary Margaret’s Olde Irish Tavern is not finding a good pint of Guinness. It is finding a place to sit, order dinner, or even make it to the restroom.

The downtown St. Pete pub is often filled shoulder to shoulder with live-music fans, soccer supporters, dinner guests, and late-night crowds.

Owner Pete Boland, who also owns The Galley and The Ship’s Hold, said the space has become so consistently busy that an expansion next door has shifted from a longtime idea into a necessity.

Mary Margaret’s, at 29 3rd Street North, will expand this winter into the neighboring Top Slice Pizzeria space.

The expansion marks a full-circle moment for Boland, whose grandmother, named Mary Margaret, operated a salon out of the Top Slice Pizzeria space back in the 1970s. 

The Irish pub currently occupies about 1,600 square feet, and the 1,400-square-foot addition will more than double its seating capacity with roughly 50 new seats, a second 12-seat bar, more patio tables, and additional restrooms.

A popular Indian Rocks Beach seafood restaurant will close Sunday for a complete reconstruction of its waterfront building.

Monstah Lobstah, located at 125 Gulf Boulevard, will serve its final customers on September 6th before closing Monday, September 7th. The existing 5,605-square-foot building will be demolished and rebuilt from the ground up.

The building, which housed JD’s Restaurant & Lounge for nearly 40 years, sustained damage during the back-to-back hurricanes of 2024. Rather than continue repairing the aging building, Monstah Lobstah’s parent company, Crabby Bill’s Family Brands, has decided to replace it.

“The reality is that we are operating in an aging coastal building that continues to need significant repairs and remains vulnerable to flooding, future storms, and additional damage,” ownership wrote in a Facebook post earlier this week.

“After a lot of evaluation and conversations with our contractor and architects, it became clear that continuing to repair and protect the existing structure would keep us in a cycle of temporary fixes without addressing the bigger issue,” the post continued.

The Manhattan Casino, the historic 22nd Street South venue that once hosted performers including James Brown, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Ray Charles, will reopen September 19 following a $4.8 million renovation.

The City of St. Petersburg will operate the two-story building at 642 22nd Street South as an event venue, with a ribbon-cutting and open house planned for 10 a.m. that day.

The reopening returns a major gathering place to The Deuces, the historically Black commercial and cultural district along 22nd Street South. The venue will be available for weddings, corporate events, conferences, family gatherings and live performances.

The renovations include new flooring and air conditioning, along with a new lobby, conference room, green room, catering kitchen, and stage for live bands.

The first floor will house the 2,232-square-foot Legacy Room and an entry foyer with a bar, while the second floor will feature the 4,152-square-foot Jordan Ballroom, named for Elder Jordan Sr.

Construction crews have completed demolition of the former UPC Insurance headquarters in downtown St. Pete, clearing the three-acre site for two 31-story apartment towers with 824 apartments and more than 30,000 square feet of retail space.

The 40,000-square-foot office building at 800 2nd Avenue South most recently served as a temporary office for the Tampa Bay Rays after Hurricane Milton damaged Tropicana Field.

UPC Insurance, which once occupied the building as its corporate headquarters, was placed into liquidation in 2023.

St. Pete-based Echelon, in partnership with Third Lake Partners, will develop the $225 million project, which will span more than 1.7 million square feet.

While shorter than the 46-story Residences at 400 Central, the two-tower development will contain more total floor area. At 343 feet, the towers will become the tallest buildings west of 5th Street and rank among downtown St. Pete’s 10 tallest structures.

Mayor Ken Welch has selected Magellan Housing as the preferred developer for Commerce Park, a 3.03-acre, city-owned site near 22nd Street South and 7th Avenue South across from the Manhattan Casino in south St. Pete.

Magellan, through its local affiliate Deuces Rising, LLC, was one of seven teams that responded to the city’s April request for proposals.

Its plan, called The Deuces at Commerce Park, includes an eight-story, 120-unit affordable apartment building, about 6,000 square feet of retail space along 22nd Street South, and six for-sale townhomes in a second phase.

The selection gives the Texas-based affordable-housing developer the opportunity to negotiate a deal with the city. Any final agreement must return to City Council for a separate vote, and the council is not likely to approve an agreement before November’s mayoral election.

All 120 apartments would be income-restricted, meaning residents would have to meet income limits to qualify. The proposal calls for 24 apartments reserved for households earning up to 30% of the area median income, 60 for households earning up to 60% of AMI, and 36 for households earning up to 80% of AMI.

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.

A St. Pete developer is planning a 60-unit apartment building in the Grand Central District that could demonstrate a quicker, potentially less expensive way to add housing to the city.

Blake Investment Partners plans to build a five-story apartment building at 3200 First Avenue South, at the corner of 31st Street South and First Avenue South, using a factory-built system from New York-based Vessel Technologies.

The building will be Vessel’s first Florida project and part of Whitney Village, a larger mixed-use development being constructed on the YMCA’s former athletic fields. The project also includes a 325-unit apartment community by Greystar, currently under construction, a future retail village, and 860 parking spaces.

The Vessel building is not being constructed through the traditional, site-built process used for most apartment projects.

Instead, Vessel will manufacture large steel-framed panels and other components in the Northeast, transport them to St. Petersburg, and assemble the completed building on-site.

Dead Bob’s is heading to Largo with a new name, an outdoor stage, and the late-night hours that helped make the St. Pete neighborhood bar a local favorite.

Owner Ben Scherlis plans to open Live at Dead Bob’s in 2027 at Horizon West Bay, Largo’s new $80 million mixed-use development at 440 West Bay Drive.

The development occupies the northern 400 block of West Bay Drive and combines Largo’s new City Hall with retail and restaurant space, public gathering areas, an outdoor plaza and stage, and a parking garage.

The 2,072-square-foot Live at Dead Bob’s will occupy a space in the parking garage building beside the outdoor stage and public plaza.

It will be the fourth Dead Bob’s-branded location, joining Dead Bob’s in west St. Pete, Dead Bob’s Too in Tampa, and Dead Bob’s Waterfront Kitchen inside the Elks Lodge in Madeira Beach.

At St. Pete Rising, we are constantly providing comprehensive coverage on everything new and coming soon to the Sunshine City, but we think it’s also important to take a look back at our city's rich history.

Historically St. Pete, a monthly column on St. Pete Rising written by Executive Director of the St. Petersburg Museum of History Rui Farias, covers everything from the legend of underground mobster tunnels to the buildings and people that created the Sunshine City.

Follow us each month as we explore how these projects shaped St. Pete into the city we know and love today.

This month, we explore the history of First United Methodist Church, a nearly 140-year-old congregation whose 100-year-old Gothic Revival sanctuary at 212 3rd Street North remains one of downtown St. Petersburg’s most recognizable landmarks.

Traditional Yemeni coffee is coming to downtown St. Pete.

Mocha Bay is expected to open before Thanksgiving at 401 1st Avenue North, on the ground floor of the Princess Martha, a historic senior living community.

The nearly 2,000-square-foot space was previously home to Deja Vu Café, which opened in 2016 and closed earlier this year. It is on the same block as Bar Chinchilla and the soon-to-open Sunshine City Comedy Cafe.

Mocha Bay will serve espresso drinks alongside traditional Yemeni coffee preparations, using medium-to-dark roasted beans sourced from Yemen, local businessman Hamdi Ali said in a conversation with St. Pete Rising.

Traditional Yemeni coffee is often brewed in a decorative metal pot called a dallah, then served strong in small cups. It can be flavored with spices such as cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.

For nearly a decade, a tiny sixth-floor walk-up in Hell’s Kitchen became something much bigger than an apartment.

From 2015 to 2024, St. Pete native Nico Leeper lived with roommates in Apartment 34 at 312 West 48th Street in Manhattan, where a rooftop overlooking Midtown gradually became a gathering place for friends, neighbors, and plenty of people they had never met before.

They called it the 312 Roof Club.

On any given night, the rooftop might host a barbecue, piano concert, political rally, Derby Day party, charity fundraiser, inflatable pool party, wedding reception, or just a bunch of friends hanging out over drinks.

Now Leeper is bringing that same energy home.

Choosing between a savory pizza and dessert is not really a problem at Quintal Brasil Pizza.

The new Pinellas Park restaurant serves both as part of its all-you-can-eat Brazilian-style pizza experience.

Quintal Brasil Pizza opened last month at 6119 Park Boulevard, in the plaza shared with Quan Ngon Bistro, Fat Cat Pizza & Dogs, and beangood coffee.

The restaurant is owned by Ray and Kaline Barreto, who also operate Brazilian pub Boteco Bossa Nova and Wildlife Acaí & Café in the same plaza.

Brazilian pizza is known for its thin crust, light layer of sauce, and toppings that may be less familiar to American pizza diners.

Quintal’s menu includes familiar pizzas like a Margherita with mozzarella, basil, and tomato, alongside Brazilian-style options such as the Portuguesa, topped with ham, hard-boiled eggs, onions, bell peppers, and olives.

A train is about to pull into downtown St. Petersburg, and it’s taking passengers somewhere unexpected.

Zubrick Magic Theatre is launching Moonlight Express, an immersive new magic show that will transform its theatre at 1211 1st Avenue North into “Zubrick Station.” The 18-and-over experience begins September 10th and will seat just 20 guests at a time.

Operated by award-winning Illusionists Chris and Ryan Zubrick, the 97-seat theater opened in 2021 in the EDGE District. It brought a family-friendly, 70-minute magic show featuring comedy, sleight-of-hand, and large-scale illusions to downtown St. Pete.

Moonlight Express will be held on select nights, while the theater’s main show will continue on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

For Moonlight Express, the theater’s lobby will remain familiar, but once guests enter the auditorium, the Zubricks promise to transport them into an entirely different world.

A 16-story apartment tower has been proposed across from the University of South Florida St. Petersburg campus, replacing a larger project approved for the same property last year.

The proposed development would rise at 446 4th Street South, at the northeast corner of 5th Avenue South and 4th Street South.

The 0.7-acre property is currently home to a 105-year-old commercial building previously occupied by Fresenius Kidney Care American Dialysis Center and an adjacent surface parking lot.

The project, which would be developed by Charleston, South Carolina-based The Beach Company, will contain 165 apartments, approximately 3,200 square feet of ground-floor retail space, a 176-space parking garage, and 178 bicycle spaces.

It’s a significant change from the development St. Petersburg City Council approved for the site in February 2025.

The first of two vessels that will launch the new Tampa Bay Ferry service arrived in Pinellas County on Monday, bringing the return of ferry service between downtown St. Pete and Tampa another step closer to reality.

The arrival comes as the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) has secured a $16.5 million federal grant to build a new 249-passenger vessel for the service, which is expected to launch later this year.

The 250-passenger Bay Breeze arrived at Tarpon Marine Service in Tarpon Springs on Monday and will now undergo inspections and refurbishment for passenger service.

A second vessel, the 149-passenger Bay Clipper, formerly known as the San Juan Clipper, is expected to arrive in Pinellas County within the next few weeks and will be refurbished at the same facility.

Popular West Coast coffee chain Dutch Bros Coffee is planning its first St. Petersburg location at the Tyrone Gardens shopping center in west St. Pete.

Plans have been submitted to the City of St. Petersburg for a new 986-square-foot Dutch Bros at 1050 58th Street North, fronting Tyrone Boulevard on the southwest side of the shopping center.

Like most Dutch Bros locations, the new coffee shop will be built around the drive-thru experience. Plans call for two drive-thru lanes and no indoor dining area.

An opening date has not been announced.

The new Dutch Bros will rise on the site of a 25,041-square-foot building that was recently demolished, making way for the coffee shop and two additional outparcel development pads along Tyrone Boulevard.

The St. Pete location is the latest piece of Dutch Bros’ growing presence in Pinellas County.

The owners of Sola Bistro & Wine Bar are preparing to open a new Spanish tapas concept next door to their longtime St. Pete Beach restaurant.

Bararam, a 1,100-square-foot Spanish-inspired restaurant and bar, is expected to open this fall at 6702 Gulf Boulevard, adjacent to Sola Bistro + Wine Bar.

The concept is the latest venture from Tigran “Tig” Khachaturyan and Chef Artem “Art” Kucherenko, who have owned and operated Sola since 2015.

Bararam’s food menu will feature traditional Spanish tapas, including ceviche, pan con tomate, rabbit croquetas, Spanish omelets, and gildas, which are small skewers typically made with peppers, olives, and anchovies.

The drink menu will focus on Spanish wines, beers, ciders, and sangria, along with vermouth and sherry.

“At Bararam, we will try to stick to classic Spanish food and drinks, like what you would expect to get if you were traveling in Spain,” Khachaturyan said in a conversation with St. Pete Rising. “But we’ll include little twists here and there that are going to be fun.”

Pre-leasing is set to begin Saturday, August 15th, with move-ins scheduled after the new year at the first apartment community in Sky Town, an $800 million mixed-use development underway in St. Petersburg’s Skyway Marina District.

The 401-unit iMMiX Apartments, located at 3201 34th Street South, are part of the first phase of the 34.3-acre development being built on the former Ceridian office campus.

Once complete, Sky Town will include 2,084 apartments, 69,000 square feet of retail anchored by a 23,000-square-foot Sprouts Farmers Market, and 120,000 square feet of self-storage across six phases.

Coral Gables-based Altis Cardinal, led by developer Frank Guerra, broke ground on the iMMiX Apartments in September 2025, with Jacksonville-based Summit Contracting Group serving as general contractor.

South Carolina-based multifamily developer Greystar Real Estate Partners, in partnership with St. Pete-based Blake Investment Partners, has topped out The Henry at Whitney Village, a five-story, 325-unit apartment complex under construction in St. Petersburg’s Grand Central District.

The building is located on 3.37 acres on the east side of the Jim & Heather Gills YMCA at 3200 1st Avenue South. Greystar purchased the property from the YMCA in January 2025 for $12 million.

“We are proud to have reached this important milestone and look forward to welcoming residents to the Henry at Whitney Village in Spring 2027,” David King, managing director for development at Greystar, said in a statement to St. Pete Rising.

The apartment complex is part of the first phase of Whitney Village, a five-acre mixed-use development on a portion of the YMCA property that will include apartments, retail, and a renovated YMCA facility.

The first phase also included an extensive renovation of the 25-year-old, 54,000-square-foot YMCA facility on the west side of the property, funded by proceeds from the property sale.

A new wine bar and bottle shop specializing in Old World wines is getting ready to open in South Pasadena.

Owners Michael De Salvia and Peter Celli are opening Dolcetto & Co. - Wine Merchant and Wine Bar at 6800 Gulfport Boulevard South, Suite 113, within a large shopping plaza that's also home to Walmart, CVS, Anytime Fitness, and Ace Hardware.

Dolcetto & Co. is expected to open this fall following renovations to the 2,100-square-foot space, which was formerly occupied by Books at Park Place.

The space will be divided roughly in half, with a four-foot barrier separating the retail bottle shop from the wine bar.

De Salvia says Dolcetto & Co. will specialize in traditional Old World wines from France, Italy, and Spain, with selections ranging from moderately priced bottles to premium offerings.

The next phase of the Rainbow Village redevelopment in Largo is taking shape, with four new apartment buildings planned as part of a long-term effort expected to deliver approximately 400 affordable homes to the community.

Newstar Development, in partnership with the Pinellas County Housing Authority, recently filed construction permits for Grand Oaks, the third phase of the four-phase redevelopment at 13224 Washington Drive in Largo’s Greater Ridgecrest neighborhood.

Grand Oaks will replace 62 older public housing units with four three-story apartment buildings containing 120 affordable apartments for families earning between 30% and 80% of the area median income (AMI).

The $48.7 million development will include 33 one-bedroom apartments measuring 741 square feet, 60 two-bedroom apartments measuring 1,066 square feet, and 27 three-bedroom apartments measuring 1,341 square feet.

Residents will have access to a clubhouse and community building with a fitness center, sports courts, green space, and an attached wellness center, along with a playground and youth recreation center.

St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport (PIE) is shelving its terminal expansion plans in favor of a renovation project to modernize the existing facility.

Located in north St. Pete at 14700 Terminal Boulevard, PIE serves more than 2 million travelers annually and offers nonstop routes to more than 60 cities, primarily through Allegiant Air.

Since 2023, the airport has been preparing for an expansion that would add gates for existing and future airlines, consolidate Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints, and improve passenger boarding.

However, as engineers and architects developed schematic designs, the cost of the terminal expansion climbed from a projected $110 million to more than $200 million.

After meetings with airport staff, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the TSA, a new priority emerged: modernizing the current terminal and addressing aging infrastructure.

Tampa-founded coffee roaster Buddy Brew Coffee is crossing the bridge with its first Pinellas County cafe, opening inside the Sprouts Farmers Market at 7263 Seminole Boulevard in Seminole Plaza.

The new in-store cafe will celebrate its grand opening Friday, August 14th, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. Buddy Brew will offer $3 drinks throughout the day, and the first 25 guests will receive gift bags with exclusive merchandise, gift cards and other goodies. One guest will also win free coffee for a year.

The Seminole outpost is part of a new partnership between Buddy Brew and Sprouts that will bring 10 coffee bars to select Sprouts stores across Tampa Bay and Southwest Florida this year. Planned locations include Palm Harbor, South Tampa, Riverview, New Tampa, Trinity, Carrollwood, Valrico and South Sarasota.

The first Sprouts x Buddy Brew cafe opened June 17th at the Sprouts in Westchase.

The Seminole cafe will serve Buddy Brew’s handcrafted espresso drinks, cold brew, smoothies and specialty beverages, along with breakfast items and pastries.

Menu highlights include the Honey Lavender Flat White, Strawberry Matcha and Carrot Cake Latte, as well as the Berry Beach Smoothie, made with strawberries, mango, blueberries and pineapple.