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Retail
Lost in all the excitement about hundreds of new
condominiums and lofts being built in downtown St.
Petersburg is another interesting number:
300,000.
That's the number of square feet of
new retail and restaurant space being built downtown,
primarily as part of mixed-use developments. Here's
another interesting number:
400,000.
That's the number of square feet of
existing retail and restaurant space in the downtown
community. You can do the math: the volume of space
devoted to retail, flat for so many years, will
nearly double based on development underway or in
the pipeline.
Midtown
Makeover
The city of St. Petersburg has met
with success in its initiative to redevelop
the Midtown section of the city...
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"We've been working hard on a retail recruiting
problem for four years," says Cindy Margiotta. "In
January 2005, the International Council of Shopping
Centers held a retail conference at the St. Petersburg
Hilton. That says to me they're getting it. The
mayor spoke to them and there was a phenomenal response.
The mayor's message to these people was about changing
perceptions. We have a higher average household
income ($52,373) than Orlando and Miami and we have
the highest per capita personal income of the five
largest cities in Florida. Retailers had been heading
to Tampa and Miami and forgetting St. Petersburg.
We have brought recognition back here."
According to Margiotta, St. Petersburg retailers
have $2.9 billion in annual sales. That's a lot,
but household consumer spending among the city's
residents is actually $4.2 billion. "Where's the
rest of that money going?" she asks.
The next big impact will be the opening in February
of Parkshore Plaza overlooking the downtown waterfront
and adding 23,500 square feet of new ground-floor
retail space.
| "There
has never been as focused an effort to
rehab and renovate Midtown in the history
of the city." |
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Beach Drive Retail - a firm owned by John Hamilton
Jr. - is leasing the space in both Parkshore and
the just-starting 400 Beach mixed-use project one
block north (which will bring another 23,500 square
feet online). You couldn't ask for a better location
for the two, sitting directly between the Renaissance
Vinoy Resort and the three-yearold BayWalk entertainment
complex. "What we're trying to do is create a pedestrian
experience for people downtown to enjoy the waterfront,
fine dining and shopping," Hamilton says. "We're
hoping to be something of a catalyst."
Parkshore's retail is more than 50-percent leased
and Hamilton claims more than 150 queries about
availability have come his way. "We've been approached
by banks, insurance and real estate companies -
a lot of service uses. But we're trying to steer
away from that; we want a pure retail environment,"
he says. Announced tenants so far include Parkshore
Grill, a jeweler, a fresh-cut European-style florist
and a gelato shop.
"I don't think people realize the magnitude of
the changes going on," Hamilton says. "We'll create
an energy in downtown St. Petersburg that I don't
think it's ever known." Parkshore Grill restaurateur
Steve Westphal already owns a popular dining and
watering spot, The Pub, in Indian Shores as well
as three sports bars in Pinellas County. He says
that his new "upscale American cuisine" operation
will become a destination in and of itself. "I feel
more at ease because of the location than anywhere
else downtown," Westphal says. "It fronts Beach
Drive and looks across Straub Park and Vinoy Basin.
There was a time I wouldn't go near St. Petersburg.
But the time has come."
Attorney George Rahdert, who made a reputation
for himself as the savior and restorer of historic
structures downtown, is trying to lure Whole Foods
to the former Bond Hotel as part of that building's
conversion to upscale condominiums.
Downtown is the target for upscale retail, but
Margiotta makes the argument that the entire city
is underserved by retail.
"Just to have that Wal-Mart open on 34th Street
South and doing well is great," she says. "34th
Street will change. You'll see the rest of the big
box retailers come in. We've heard from a number
of developers. The retailers are telling them 'Find
us a spot.'"
Mr. Dealmaker
One guy in St. Petersburg has left his fingerprints on virtually every big
business deal during the last two years. And his name isn't Aviram, Sher
or Pridgen...
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Out at Tyrone Square Mall, mall manager Lita Sargent
is getting the same calls, which accounts for the
big changes underway at the 34-year-old mall. Earlier
this year, Simon Property Group knocked down 40,000
square feet and began refashioning it as an exterior-facing
lifestyle corridor and added a new mall entrance.
The new space - located between Sears and Macy's
- will go to five tenants, including two new restaurants
from the Outback Steakhouse family, Bonefish Grill
and Lee Roy Selmon's. On the inside, the mall has
created nine new spaces for tenants yet to be announced.
Other improvements include a new Victoria's Secret
prototype store that opened in May, upcoming renovations
to Macy's and expansion of Sunday shopping hours.
"Tyrone has been here for 34 years and continues
to be successful," Sargent says. "But that success
is predicated on changing, evolving and getting
better."
According to the city's own research, there are
88 percent more retailers in Orlando, and 45 percent
more in Tampa, per every one customer, than in St.
Petersburg. The discrepancy is even greater with
regard to eating and drinking establishments, where
St. Petersburg has the fewest restaurants per number
of customers of the five largest cities in Florida.
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