One of the largest properties in St. Pete’s up-and-coming Warehouse Arts District has been sold.

Factory Investors of St Pete LLC, controlled by St. Pete-based real estate investors, has acquired a 6.5-acre property located southwest of downtown St. Pete at 2606 Fairfield Avenue South.

The property is home to The Factory, a creative arts destination comprised of 90,000 square feet of warehouse space across nine buildings along the Pinellas Trail. 

Joe Esposito, Managing Principal of Axxos Commercial Group, represented the buyer in the sales transaction.

In a conversation with St. Pete Rising, Esposito confirmed The Factory will continue operations into the foreseeable future. Additionally, there is still some vacant space that is available for lease.

Esposito says he discovered the off-market opportunity through a lis-pendens (foreclosure action) filing, which prompted him to contact Jon Wittner and Jake Wollman of KW Commercial, who represented the owner in leasing The Factory.

“Given that this acquisition took well over a year to orchestrate, this is a testament to both our perseverance as well as our commitment to finding unique and valuable opportunities for our clients,” said Esposito. “The Factory is a cornerstone of the Warehouse Arts District, and we saw an incredible opportunity to further enhance the property’s value and thus preserve its place in the community.”

With an ambitious vision to build an expansive arts hub in St. Pete, a joint venture between Kara Behar, Executive Director of Behar + Peteranecz Architecture; her husband, architect Jordan Behar; and Liz Dimmitt, Managing Partner of Dimmitt Chevrolet, purchased the property from window film company Madico in November 2018 for $4.415 million.

Dimmitt is also the Founder and CEO of Fairgrounds St. Pete, a 12,000-square-foot immersive, interactive Florida-themed art experience located inside The Factory.

Although stymied by the pandemic, The Factory debuted in 2020 as a haven for artists and art aficionados.

After four years of ownership, Kara and Jordan Behar sold their stake in the company to Liz Dimmitt in January 2024.

Current tenants at The Factory include Fairgrounds St. Pete, Daddy Kool Records, Museum of Motherhood, HEIRESS Gallery, the Drew Marc Gallery, Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation, and over 15 artist studios. 

In addition to its permanent tenants, The Factory frequently hosts a variety of concerts and local markets, such as the popular Indie Flea, featuring over 200 local businesses offering vintage finds, plants, food, and music.

The Factory serves as an anchor for the Warehouse Arts District, a transitional industrial area located southwest of downtown St. Petersburg. The district is home to light industrial employers, eclectic art studios, galleries, breweries, event spaces and is directly connected to downtown via the Pinellas Trail.

Currently, the neighborhood is zoned Industrial Traditional (IT), however, amendments to St. Petersburg’s land development regulations will expand the allowable uses and increase the allowed density and intensity of certain parcels in the Warehouse Arts District.

The affected parcels are generally located around the 22nd Street corridor situated east of the 6.5-acre Factory property.

The proposed zoning changes are expected to be approved later this year, allowing the  underutilized neighborhood to be transformed into a bustling urban environment.