{"id":288726,"date":"2026-05-29T10:47:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T10:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/288726\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T10:47:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T10:47:11","slug":"st-pete-innovation-district-celebrates-10-years-looks-to-future-83-degrees-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/288726\/","title":{"rendered":"St Pete Innovation District celebrates 10 years, looks to future \u2013 83 Degrees Media"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Alison Barlow addresses crowd during Innovation District\u2019s 10th anniversary celebration (Innovation District)<\/p>\n

2026 has already been an eventful year for the St. Petersburg Innovation District. It reached the 10th-anniversary milestone, created a road map for future growth with its first-ever master plan, and rallied to support a cornerstone member after a fire tore through the University of South Florida College of Marine Science laboratory building in early May, destroying decades of research.<\/p>\n

St. Pete is a city of residential neighborhoods and commercial districts, each with their own look and feel. Directly south of downtown, the Innovation District is 560 acres with two hospital complexes, a university campus,\u00a0 a marine research mecca, a business incubator, a marine and defense tech office hub, a world-renowned museum, an influential journalism institute, an airport, a port, and government, nonprofit, and private sector research organizations.<\/p>\n

\u201cInnovation districts are really interesting,\u201d St. Petersburg Innovation District Executive Director Alison Barlow says. \u201cThey bring together the physical place with the economic drivers \u2013 the businesses, the incubators, the accelerators \u2013 and figure out ways to network all of those together. The way I describe it is, when one of our partners is doing really cool work, they own it, they 100 percent own it. Our job is to amplify, to raise awareness, get people interested, and help them find future partners. When it\u2019s a project that needs multiple partners working together, that\u2019s where we\u2019re really good. We convene them. We lead them. We coordinate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Decade of investment<\/p>\n

The Innovation District was officially established in 2016, just as one founding partner, All Children\u2019s Hospital, was expanding its research and academic missions as a member of the Johns Hopkins Medicine system.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was perfect timing for us to be a founding member,\u201d says Johns Hopkins All Children\u2019s Foundation Executive Vice President Jenine Rabin, the hospital\u2019s current representative on the Innovation District board. \u201cIt was right as we were activating the science and innovation part of our mission, even more than before. The fulfillment of that mission comes in 2018 when we build our Research and Education Building. Research and innovation are just pouring out of that building.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johns Hopkins All Children\u2019s Hospital Research and Education Building (St. Pete Innovation District) Innovation District mainstay Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital (Carole Devillers)<\/p>\n

The $95 million, 230,000-square-foot facility houses six research institutes, a nationally accredited pediatric biodepository, a state-of-the-art simulation lab, grant-funded pediatric cancer research programs, more than 350 research studies on pediatric diseases, and medical resident training programs.<\/p>\n

Johns Hopkins All Children\u2019s expansion was not an outlier. Over the last decade, several anchor institutions helped the Innovation District live up to its name by making major investments in state-of-the-art facilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2017,\u00a0 USF St. Pete opened Lynn Pippenger Hall, which houses the Kate Tiedemann School of Business and a nationally recognized fintech accelerator program that Tampa Bay Wave runs in partnership with the USF Muma College of Business.<\/p>\n

In late 2021, the nonprofit organization that manages the Innovation District repurposed a vacant research-and-development building at Port St. Pete as the Maritime and Defense Technology Hub (see related article<\/a>), a shared workspace for startups and firms working in the defense, technology, and blue economy sectors.<\/p>\n

In early 2024, Tampa Bay Innovation Center\u2019s $16 million, 45,000-square-foot ARK Innovation Center opened along Fourth Street South. Backed by noted tech investor Cathie Wood\u2019s firm ARK Invest, the Tampa Bay Innovation Center rebranded as SpARK Labs by ARK Invest in late 2025, shifting the ARK Innovation Center away from a business accelerator model to a membership-based incubator for tech startups working on artificial intelligence, blockchain, robotics, energy storage, and multiomics biology. That incubator program reached its capacity of 45 firms in March.<\/p>\n

The ARK Innovation Center opened in early 2024 (Carole Devillers)<\/p>\n

In February 2026, Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital opened its Institute Square complex. Covering a full city block, it includes a 132,000-square-foot medical pavilion that houses institutes focused on orthopedic, cancer, and neurosciences care.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

By the numbers<\/p>\n

Some numbers the Innovation District released to mark its 10th anniversary show the economic growth over the last decade. The district has had a $3 billion economic impact and supported more than 10,000 jobs. Two pillars, marine science and life sciences, have expanded significantly. Marine science adds $700 million to the local economy, a 274 percent increase since 2018, and supports more than 2,000 jobs, 1,300 of them added since 2018.<\/p>\n

Centered around Johns Hopkins All Children\u2019s and Orlando Health Bayfront, life sciences contribute $1.7 billion to the economy, a 112 percent increase since 2018, and added more than 2,000 jobs, pushing that sector\u2019s total workforce to nearly 6,700.<\/p>\n

The beginning<\/p>\n

It all began as an idea for a hospital marketing strategy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Back in 2011,\u00a0 current Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg President and CEO Kanika Tomalin was a C-suite executive at Bayfront Health System (now Orlando Health Bayfront) who devised the Innovation District moniker as a branding tool for the single-hospital health system.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was initially a strategy to leverage Bayfront\u2019s proximity to the inordinate amount of anchor institutions that had organically developed over the course of a century along that corridor, creating this extraordinary opportunity for innovation,\u201d Tomalin says. \u201cWe were looking at it for a marketplace positioning advantage in a crowded, competitive healthcare marketplace. We also saw it as a way to capitalize on opportunities to cooperate through shared office space or shared chillers. We were looking at it from a practical and operational point of view.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The concept quickly expanded, leaning into strengths at opposite ends of the future district \u2013 the waterfront marine research cluster centered around USF\u2019s College of Marine Science to the east, and, to the west, the bustling healthcare hub around Bayfront and All Children\u2019s. The Innovation District would be the nexus that brings them together to share ideas and collaborate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a focus at the time on this construct of \u2018warm, salty, wet,\u2019 and the fact that healthcare and marine science both work in this wet lab space,\u201d Tomalin says. \u201cMany of the same shared principles of innovation were driving their work forward. In the collision that happens when people work together, new innovations can take place.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2012, the stakeholder institutions and the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership started meeting to flesh out the concept. In 2014, Tomalin moved to City Hall as deputy mayor in Rick Kriseman\u2019s administration. She brought the campaign to establish the Innovation District with her. Working within city government in a position overseeing economic development, Tomalin says she cultivated the support to take the proposal \u201cfrom the concentrated interest of the small group of stakeholders directly involved\u201d to \u201ca city priority.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2016, the Innovation District was officially established on six foundational pillars that largely align with the City of St. Petersburg\u2019s Grow Smarter job-creation strategy: marine science, life science, data and technology, entrepreneurship, education, and art.<\/p>\n

Nine organizations with an established presence in the community became the \u201canchors\u201d: the City of St. Petersburg, Duke Energy Florida, Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg, Johns Hopkins All Children\u2019s Hospital, Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital, St. Petersburg College, St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership, USF\u2019s College of Marine Science, and USF\u2019s St. Petersburg campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt got all the big institutions talking on a regular basis about shared goals, collaboration, and ways to build the local economy,\u201d says St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership CEO Jason Mathis, current Vice President of the Innovation District board. \u201cThey already knew each other, but formalizing the district created this great mechanism for these institutions to collaborate and work together. And big institutions are not always great at that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bringing Barlow on board<\/p>\n

In 2017, the Innovation District board hired Barlow as the first executive director of the nonprofit organization that manages the district\u2019s operations and convenes the partners. Tomalin, who helped interview candidates, says the hiring took the district from a \u201cnice to have\u201d to \u201ca concentrated business operation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a lot of great candidates,\u201d she says. \u201cBut Alison stood out for her record of project management and her ability to translate a vision into reality in tangible ways that make the value proposition clear. She understood the possibilities and potential of the district right away. She has a commitment and ability to build bridges between like-minded people who are invested in the advancement of the district overall and the city as a whole, not just individual institutions. She\u2019s a great ambassador and continues to come up with new and exciting ideas worthy of the Innovation District every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barlow grew up in St. Petersburg and graduated from Boca Ciega High and Florida State University before graduate school at American University in Washington, D.C. After grad school, she worked in project management and technology consulting in D.C. Eventually, she moved back to St. Pete, where, in 2014, St. Petersburg College hired her to run its collaborative labs program.<\/p>\n

Barlow says her initial focus at the Innovation District was spreading the word about the cutting-edge work being done by the researchers, scientists, academics, and clinicians in the district. They were working on solutions to real-world challenges like cancer treatments, chemical contaminants in Tampa Bay, sea level rise and flooding, health disparities, red tide, and political misinformation, and it was all flying under the radar.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first four years were really about amplifying what we already had and bringing visibility to things that people didn\u2019t know about,\u201d Barlow says. \u201cThere were people in the district who were rock stars. If you went to a national conference, they were on the panel discussion. They were the people everyone wanted to talk to. But here in St. Pete, they were in front of us in line at the grocery store, and we had no idea what cool work they were doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2019, the Innovation District raised its profile and demonstrated its project leadership capabilities by heading a local project in partnership with national nonprofit U.S. Ignite\u2019s smart cities initiative. Working with USF St. Pete and the St. Pete Downtown Partnership, the district tested smart technology infrastructure, including smart light poles and intersection cameras measuring the distance between vehicles and pedestrians. It caught the attention of municipalities around the country. Soon, the project team was sitting on panels, sharing their findings, and discussing lessons learned.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The success of the Maritime and Defense Technology Hub (see related story<\/a>) raised the district\u2019s national profile, reinforcing its ability to bring together and lead a team of government, academic, and industry partners.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"The Maritime and Defense Technology Hub (Carole Devillers)<\/p>\n

Projects, initiatives<\/p>\n

In addition to the Hub, the Innovation District leads a revamped, expanded Tampa Bay Ocean Team, formerly the St. Pete Ocean Team, a consortium of about 60 government agencies, academic institutions, nonprofit organizations, and businesses from Pinellas, Hillsborough, and Manatee counties that share a focus on marine science and the ocean economy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The district developed print and online versions of a Tampa Bay Innovation Ecosystem Map<\/a> that helps guide tech entrepreneurs to support organizations with the resources, expertise, and services they need. The district team conducted surveys and interviews with more than 100 organizations to compile the map.<\/p>\n

The Youth Steam initiative works with partner educational organizations and businesses to motivate and prepare more students to pursue STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) careers. The annual St. Pete Science Festival draws a crowd of several thousand to USF\u2019s St. Pete campus and adjacent Poynter Park, where school children and families explore STEAM concepts through fun, hands-on activities.<\/p>\n

Master plan<\/p>\n

The Innovation District kicked off its 10th anniversary by planning for the future. In early 2026, the district finalized and released its first-ever master plan, a road map to guide future development. Launched in 2024, the master plan process included community stakeholders and the district\u2019s partner member organizations to create a comprehensive, holistic vision.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Alison and the district were not there as this organizing force, you would have everyone doing their own thing,\u201d says Mathis, the St. Pete Downtown Partnership\u2019s CEO. \u201cIt would develop and build out, but it wouldn\u2019t be in a way that was thoughtful and strategic and holistic. It\u2019s been very helpful to have that one point of contact, one person trying to navigate and guide the district.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Affordable and workforce rental housing are priority needs. Between 2013 and 2023, the district lost 400 apartments with monthly rents under $1,000 and added higher rent apartments as the area\u2019s median household income nearly doubled, the master plan says.<\/p>\n

\u201cFaculty, grad students, lab technicians, nurses, custodial staff, and food service workers all struggle to find affordable housing near campus or work,\u201d\u00a0 Mathis says. \u201cHealthcare is a huge employer. We struggle to have enough housing for employees in general, and workforce housing in particular.\u201d<\/p>\n

The plan also lays out strategies and projects to encourage mixed-use development, expand office, light industrial, and collaborative space, improve mobility and connectivity,\u00a0 bolster environmental resilience, and activate public places like Poynter Park, Albert Whitted Park, areas near Booker Creek, and the waterfront.<\/p>\n

Poynter Park during 2026 \u201cEmbracing Our Differences\u201d exhibit (Carole Devillers)Innovation District\u2019s Poynter Park during \u201cEmbracing Our Differences\u201d exhibit (Carole Devillers)<\/p>\n

Connect, collaborate<\/p>\n

Even when it was just an idea,\u00a0the Innovation District was intended to be the catalyst for connections and collaboration. It has played that role well. Professionals meet up and network at The Library, the literature-themed coffee shop, restaurant, and bar inside Johns Hopkins All Children\u2019s Research and Education Building. They make connections and get the latest tech industry intel during the monthly Tech X-change networking happy hour at the Maritime and Defense Technology Hub.<\/p>\n

The district\u2019s member organizations have joined together in several successful collaborations. The USF College of Nursing uses Johns Hopkins All Children\u2019s simulation lab for student training. Johns Hopkins All Children\u2019s, Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are members of the technical advisory group for the USF College of Marine Science\u2019s Tampa Bay Surveillance Project, a comprehensive study of chemical contaminants in the bay. Johns Hopkins All Children\u2019s experts also review data collected for correlations with human health effects. Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg and Orlando Health Bayfront partner on a grant program for nonprofits working to advance racially equitable health outcomes in three south St. Pete zip codes. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute and USF College of Marine Science work together on red tide monitoring. <\/p>\n

Those are just a sample of the collaborations taking place.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe collaboration between the partners has really taken off,\u201d Barlow says. \u201cWe\u2019re going after more grants and funding opportunities than in the past, and our partners are seeking collaborators more. Some grants require it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The partners have also come together to support the College of Marine Science after a fire gutted its lab building in early May, destroying equipment and decades of research. In mid-May, the Innovation District and St. Pete City Council member Gina Driscoll organized the fundraiser \u201cOcean of Support, raising more than $23,000 for the College of Marine Science.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe College of Marine Science is proud to be part of a tremendous community in the St. Pete Innovation District, the strength of which is on full display since the fire at our Marine Science Lab building,\u201d College of Marine Science Dean Tom Frazer says in a statement. \u201cThe fire was, of course, a challenging event and we are still assessing damages. But we are incredibly grateful for the support we\u2019ve received from our friends around the world, including Alison and others in the Innovation District, who have offered everything from their office space to fundraising efforts. I am heartened by this support and know it will quicken our recovery, allowing us to bring our program back better and even more impactful than before.\u201d<\/p>\n

As of May 22, an operating fund set up to support the College of Marine Science\u2019s recovery had raised approximately $400,000. The college has also resumed research work. Its Ocean Circulation Lab, which studies physical ocean conditions and monitors for conditions that influence hurricanes, returned to sea aboard the Florida Institute of Oceanography research vessel R\/V Weatherbird, the College of Marine Science said in a Facebook post.<\/p>\n

Beyond expectations<\/p>\n

As the Innovation District embarks on its second decade, Tomalin, who devised the idea as a C-suite executive with Bayfront Hospital, says the results far exceed initial expectations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou really can look at those few miles of St. Petersburg that we call the Innovation District as a catalytic enzyme that not only drives innovation in our city, but really sets the standard for what\u2019s possible for cities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rabin, with Johns Hopkins All Children\u2019s Foundation, says the success begins with the district\u2019s leadership.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Alison Barlow has been a great leader to broker this experiment, to bring the partners along, to help us think more collaboratively and cohesively,\u201d she says. \u201cShe has been exactly the right fit for what the Innovation District needed. It\u2019s unbelievable this is now a 10-year experiment.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information, go to St. Pete Innovation District<\/a><\/p>\n

This story is produced through an underwriting agreement between the St. Pete Innovation District and 83 Degrees.<\/p>\n


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