{"id":103729,"date":"2026-01-02T22:15:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T22:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/103729\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T22:15:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T22:15:09","slug":"four-st-pete-projects-to-watch-in-2026-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/103729\/","title":{"rendered":"Four St. Pete projects to watch in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Construction cranes have become a common sight in downtown St. Petersburg over the past few years. An unprecedented growth spurt that began during the pandemic shows no signs of abating.<\/p>\n

\u200bMultiple much-anticipated developments, including the Residences at 400 Central and Art House condominium towers, are now welcoming residents following years of construction. However, a new year will bring a fresh slate of projects to the Sunshine City, and many will take shape away from the downtown core.<\/p>\n

\u200bHere are some planned or under-construction developments to keep an eye on in 2026:<\/p>\n

\u200bHistoric Gas Plant District redevelopment<\/p>\n

\u200bThe redevelopment of roughly 86 acres surrounding Tropicana Field will have a generational impact on St. Petersburg. Stakeholders expected to see a vibrant mixed-use and income community in place by now, in July 2024, when the city reached a historic agreement with the Tampa Bay Rays and its development partner, Hines.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u200bStuart Sternberg exited an arduously negotiated deal in March 2025, after encountering hurricane-induced delays, and sold the team in late September. ARK Investment Management, Ellison Development and Horus Construction submitted a $6.8 billion redevelopment proposal to redevelop the Historic Gas Plant District about a week later.<\/p>\n

\u200bMayor Ken Welch is\u00a0considering the bid and will formally open a\u00a030-day extension<\/a>\u00a0for additional offers on Sunday. St. Petersburg-based Blake Investment Partners, which submitted an unsolicited proposal in March, plans to present an\u00a0updated vision<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u200bNew York-based Red Apple Group, the development firm behind 400 Central, has also expressed interest in the massive project. Welch\u00a0said Dec. 30<\/a>\u00a0that he is \u201cexcited to see what we get there in addition to what I think is a\u00a0strong proposal<\/a>\u00a0from ARK Ellison Horus.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u200b\u201cThe one proposal that we have so far actually increases the amount of affordable housing, increases the minority participation,\u201d Welch told the\u00a0Catalyst. \u201cSo, it\u2019s actually stronger than what we had with Hines and the Rays.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u200bThe Central<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u200bTampa-based Ellison Development is also building The Central about a half-mile away from the Trop, in St. Petersburg\u2019s rapidly evolving EDGE District. The under-construction mixed-use development made headlines multiple times in 2025.<\/p>\n

\u200bGeoffrey Zakarian, star of \u201cIron Chef America,\u00a0Chopped,\u201d and \u201cThe Kitchen\u201d\u00a0on the Food Network, will helm The Central\u2019s\u00a0flagship restaurant<\/a>. The development will also feature a 168-key Marriott Autograph Collection Hotel and a seven-story residential building with 42 workforce housing units.<\/p>\n

\u200bAn 11-story office building, Halcyon, has ARK Invest as an\u00a0anchor tenant<\/a>. Stakeholders celebrated The Central\u2019s 540-space public parking garage opening at 1301 Central Avenue in June.<\/p>\n

\u200bIn September, Ellison announced that the structure\u2019s rooftop garden would display a 76-million-year-old Gorgosaurus skeleton<\/a>. However, vertical construction at The Central has seemingly stalled since the garage opened.<\/p>\n

Derby Lane<\/p>\n

\u200bSagi Genger, CEO of Rally Development, wants to transform the 131.5-acre Derby Lane site into an\u00a0entertainment destination<\/a>. The property at 10490 Gandy Blvd. was formerly home to a\u00a0greyhound racing<\/a>\u00a0track and continues to host a poker room, markets and festivals.<\/p>\n

\u200bGenger and his team are now marketing the property and \u201ctrying to figure out what makes the most sense \u2013 both for the community and for us.\u201d He called it the \u201cmost important site for development in the area\u201d in late November.<\/p>\n

\u200b\u201cThis is a multi-100-million-dollar, if not a multi-billion-dollar, development project,\u201d Genger said. \u201cTo have so many acres available in the middle of a metropolitan area is very, very unusual.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u200bHe expects to \u201creach conclusions\u201d on the property\u2019s future in February or early March, after reviewing proposals. He said the possibilities are \u201calmost endless\u201d for a site that has long been considered a potential home for a new Rays stadium.<\/p>\n

\u200bSky Town<\/p>\n

\u200bLocal leaders celebrated the\u00a0commencement of construction on the most extensive\u00a0mixed-income<\/a> development in Pinellas County\u2019s\u00a0history in mid-October. The $800 million, multi-phased Sky Town Apartments will eventually feature 2,084 housing units, 80,920 square feet of commercial space, a 22,500-square-foot storage facility and 4,000 parking spaces at the southwest corner of 34th Street and 30th Avenue South.<\/p>\n

\u200bAltis Cardinal received $5.5 million from the county and $4.5 million from the city for Sky Town\u2019s first phase, which includes 401 apartments, a Sprouts grocery store and nearly 12,000 square feet of retail space. The development firm will dedicate 60 units to households earning up to 80% of the area median income; 61 will have a 120% limit.<\/p>\n

\u200b\u201cThe Sky Town development marks a\u00a0new era<\/a>\u00a0for the Skyway Marina District,\u201d Welch said at the time. \u201cThis public-private project is an example of how forward-thinking investments can strengthen neighborhoods, attract workforce talent and expand opportunities for residents.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u200b___<\/p>\n

Mark Parker<\/a> reports via St. Pete Catalyst<\/a>. Republished with permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Construction cranes have become a common sight in downtown St. Petersburg over the past few years. An unprecedented…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":103730,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[53906,53907,53908,53909,53910,53911,53912,202,204,203,53913,199,53914,201,200,53915],"class_list":{"0":"post-103729","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-st-petersburg","8":"tag-2026-development-outlook","9":"tag-affordable-housing-st-pete","10":"tag-downtown-st-pete-construction","11":"tag-edge-district-projects","12":"tag-gas-plant-district-redevelopment","13":"tag-mixed-use-developments-florida","14":"tag-pinellas-county-housing","15":"tag-st-pete","16":"tag-st-pete-headlines","17":"tag-st-pete-news","18":"tag-st-pete-real-estate-growth","19":"tag-st-petersburg","20":"tag-st-petersburg-development","21":"tag-st-petersburg-headlines","22":"tag-st-petersburg-news","23":"tag-tampa-bay-rays-site"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}