The backstory<\/p>\n
St. Pete<\/a> Beach commissioners recently voted unanimously to approve conditional use permits and variances for Ping Pong Partners to rebuild Blind Pass Marina. The property, which previously housed the Hippie Shack restaurant <\/a>and Sea Hags Bar and Grill, has sat quiet and heavily damaged following the 2024 hurricanes.<\/p>\n Courtesy: City of St. Pete Beach<\/p>\n “It was substantially damaged,” Brian Aungst Jr., an attorney representing Ping Pong Partners, said at the recent St. Pete Beach Commission meeting. “It is an eyesore.”<\/p>\n Aungst told commissioners at a recent meeting that the development group wants the project to become a “crown jewel” in their portfolio.<\/p>\n “They want this to be a place where they can take their own families. They are very, very concerned about being good neighbors,” Aungst said.<\/p>\n Restaurant, live music, fewer boat slips<\/p>\n Dig deeper<\/p>\n The approved proposal includes plans for an outdoor restaurant with live music. It also reduces the number of boat slips from 106 to 70, with 32 designated for liveaboard vessels. Additionally, the new dock would be five feet shorter in length and nearly 20 feet narrower than what\u2019s there now.<\/p>\n “What we are proposing also increases the size of the slips, which is going to increase the quality of the boats and the tenants,” Aungst said.<\/p>\n What they’re saying<\/p>\n City officials expressed enthusiasm for the developer’s track record and the opportunity to refresh the area.<\/p>\n “I am familiar with the Armature Works,” District 4 Commissioner Jon Maldonado said. “Great stuff is going on with that, and I commend you for bringing in a high-value partner.”<\/p>\n District 2 Commissioner Lisa Robinson echoed that sentiment, noting that the property has long been a candidate for a facelift.<\/p>\n “I’m glad to see this area being developed or looking at being developed,” Robinson said. “It has been needing some revitalization for a while now.”<\/p>\n Noise, traffic concerns<\/p>\n The other side<\/p>\n Despite the general support, nearby residents said they\u2019re also cautious and have some concerns about potential traffic and noise.<\/p>\n Steve Bono, a resident who lives near the marina, noted that neighboring waterfront businesses have successfully balanced commerce with community peace.<\/p>\n “We want to be sure that the noise, being an outdoor venue, is managed,” Bono said. “Sea Dog [Brewing Company] has been a neighbor of ours across the water. They shut down at 10 p.m. We’ve got good neighbors there, and we just hope that we can continue that with these gentlemen.”<\/p>\n Courtesy: City of St. Pete Beach<\/p>\n Developers said live music will end by 10 p.m. nightly and that outdoor speakers will be positioned to face away from nearby condominiums and homes. Ping Pong Partners also said they are open to conducting a formal traffic study.<\/p>\n “We\u2019re looking forward to being a substantial and significant improvement over what’s there and even over what was there in the past, and being good neighbors and good property owners while also redeveloping and revitalizing a blighted eyesore,” Aungst said.<\/p>\n What’s next<\/p>\n The project must now secure approval from the Pinellas County Water and Navigation Authority.<\/p>\n The Source<\/p>\n Information in this story was gathered from an interview with an attorney representing Ping Pong Partners and interviews with city commissioners at the St. Pete Beach City Commission meeting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Brief Developers of Tampa\u2019s Armature Works have cleared their first hurdle to redevelop Blind Pass Marina in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":276593,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[12717,118113,118114,118115,2149,135,137,136,6929],"class_list":["post-276592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-armature-works","tag-brian-aungst","tag-lisa-robinson","tag-ping-pong","tag-st-pete-beach","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-traffic-concerns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276592","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=276592"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276592\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"<div>Courtesy:](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/f8d893ba2062233ab7f3de802f7aed6a.jpeg\"\/)
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