Texas-based coworking company Urban Office to open first Florida location in the Warehouse Arts District
/A 24,000-square-foot building in the warehouse Arts District will become Florida’s first Urban Office coworking space | Google Maps
An industrial building in St. Petersburg’s Warehouse Arts District is set to be converted into a modern coworking hub with more than 100 offices and retail space.
The nearly 24,000-square-foot property at 2301 3rd Avenue South was purchased on January 16th for $3.535 million by Lapin Development, led by developer Alec Lapin.
Alex Kamm, Joe Esposito, and Jon LaBudde of Axxos Commercial Group represented the buyer in the transaction, while Doug Waechter of JLL represented the seller.
The 61-year-old building was previously owned by the Louise Graham Regeneration Center, which operated a paper shredding business on site that employed adults with intellectual disabilities. The organization closed its operations in late 2025, leaving the property vacant.
Lapin plans to invest around $4 million to redevelop the building into Florida’s first Urban Office location, a coworking concept created by Houston-based developer Braun Enterprises.
The property at 2301 3rd Avenue South, located one block from 3 Daughters Brewing, was purchased on January 16th by Lapin Development | Google Maps
Urban Office currently operates more than a dozen locations across Texas, including Houston, San Antonio, and Austin, and is known for its private-office-first approach to flexible workspace.
“Most of our coworking competitors are downtown, and we like to be just outside of downtown in more accessible, walkable neighborhoods,” Lapin said in a conversation with St. Pete Rising. “The Warehouse Arts District felt like the perfect blend for us.”
Instead of rows of open desks, Urban Office is built around private offices paired with shared amenities in creative, walkable areas outside the traditional downtown office core.
The Warehouse Arts District location is expected to include around 100 private offices, along with approximately 50 hot-desk memberships for users who don’t require a dedicated space.
Members will have access to conference rooms, phone booths, high-speed internet, coffee and snack service, and a podcast room.
Member amenity space at Urban Office’s East End location in Houston, TX | Urban Office
“The majority of our concept is private offices with shared amenities,” Lapin said. “You can have 100 different businesses operating side by side, each with their own space, but still benefit from collaboration and shared resources.”
Lapin said the project fits squarely within Urban Office’s broader philosophy of adaptive reuse, which focuses on purchasing existing buildings and converting them into modern, amenity-rich workspaces.
“We typically buy existing buildings and focus on adaptive reuse,” he said. “That allows us to move faster than building from scratch and deliver Class A finishes without charging downtown prices.”
The building’s industrial character was a major draw. Portions of the warehouse feature ceilings reaching roughly 30 feet, creating the opportunity for a light-filled workspace with a clean, modern industrial vibe.
In addition to coworking space, Lapin plans to carve out roughly 2,000 square feet of retail at the southeast corner of the building, fronting 23rd Avenue South. The space is expected to become a café, bakery, or similar concept designed to serve both Urban Office members and the surrounding neighborhood.
Member amenity space at Urban Office’s East End location in Houston, TX | Urban Office
The project is among the first to utilize the Warehouse Arts District’s Target Employment Center zoning overlay, passed in 2024, which opened the door for office uses that were previously not permitted.
Lapin is working with Empad Architecture on the redesign, which is expected to include new windows and skylights to increase natural light throughout the building.
Design and permitting are expected to take four to five months, followed by approximately six months of construction, with an opening targeted around the end of 2026.
“This will be our first Urban Office in Florida,” Lapin said. “We’ve spent years refining the concept in Texas, and St. Pete felt like the right place to introduce it.”
The Warehouse Arts District acquisition is Lapin Development’s second project in the Tampa Bay area. In April 2025, Lapin purchased a 15,400-square-foot mixed-use building in Tampa’s Seminole Heights neighborhood at 4705 North Florida Avenue, featuring ground-floor retail and six apartments above.
