Downtown Developments

Half Baked Potato is now open at 1626 Central Ave

The Museum of the American Arts & Crafts Movement is now open at 355 4th St N

Downtown Developments

By Brian Zucker, Owner of St. Pete Rising

It seems like each time we take a stroll through downtown there are new restaurants and galleries opening and more apartment complexes and condo towers being built. We realize it’s difficult to keep track of everything. Luckily, we’ve done the research, so you don’t have to. Each month we will feature a few of the most exciting new downtown developments that are on the horizon for the Sunshine City.

The Candle Pour is coming soon to 1128 Central Avenue in the EDGE District. The do-it-yourself candle-making shop offers over 100 fragrances for customers to blend while creating a candle, wax melt, linen spray, body spray, and more. This will be the second location for The Candle Pour, which debuted in Tampa’s Hyde Park Village in 2019. Look for The Candle Pour to open in St. Pete early next year.

The Half Baked Potato, a loaded baked potato restaurant, is now open at 1626 Central Avenue. The menu consists of 20 outrageous potatoes that can be served baked, mashed, or smashed. Some of the toppings include Mac and Cheese, Shredded BBQ Pork, Shrimp Alfredo, Tofu Scramble, Crab Rangoon, Buffalo Chicken, and Frito Chili Pie.

The Metro, a seven-story, 100-unit apartment building featuring fully furnished studio apartments, broke ground last week in the EDGE District. The Metro will have retail space on the ground floor, a dog park, a landscaped patio facing Baum Avenue, and an outdoor pool with cabanas and grills. Residents will also have access to an on-site fitness center, game room, and business center. Notably, in lieu of traditional parking, there will be covered storage for 102 bikes and an off-site valet lot for residents. Studios at The Metro will start at $1,450 per month. The Metro is expected to be completed in early 2023.

Mangosteen, a tropical Asian restaurant, is coming soon to 656 Central Avenue in downtown St. Pete. One of the highlights of the menu will be yakitori, a type of grilled meat skewer that originated in Japan. Other items to look forward to are dumplings, stir-fry, and tacos. And the entire back of the food menu will be dedicated to sushi. Mangosteen is expected to open in early October. The Museum of the American Arts and Crafts Movement is now open at 355 4th Street North in downtown St. Pete. The five-story, 137,000 square-foot museum features more than 40,000 square feet of gallery space, as well as a destination restaurant with private dining rooms, a retail store, an upscale café, a children’s gallery, a reference library, a theater, a graphic studio, a beautiful event space for weddings and corporate events, and an outdoor green space enhanced by original period tiles and fountains. Colony Grill is coming soon to 670 Central Avenue in downtown St. Pete. Established in 1935 in Stamford, CT, Colony Grill is bringing their famous hot oil pizza to the Sunshine City. Colony Grill’s pizza is your typical New England bar pie. The cheese goes right to the end; there’s no NY-style crust. It’s very thin, brittle, and has a slight chewiness. Beyond pizza and drinks, Colony Grill is a place for the community to gather. A place to eat after work, watch the game on TV, or catch up with friends and family around the holidays. Colony Grill plans to open in St. Pete before Halloween.

St. Pete Rising is an urban development blog covering future retail, restaurants, and real estate in Downtown St. Petersburg, FL. Stay up-todate, visit StPeteRising.com.