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5 days ago | 
stpetecatalyst.com | Mark Parker
Allie Felix has spent the past seven years fostering Tampa Bay’s startup and innovation ecosystem. She will now use that experience to propel a new venture. Felix has launched Goldia Group, a hospitality collective dedicated to cultivating community-focused businesses.
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6 days ago | 
stpetecatalyst.com | Mark Parker
A popular neighborhood grocer in South St. Petersburg faces demolition as, ironically, a local nonprofit plans to transform the property into a food pantry and social services hub. Mairs Grocery, which also offers hot meals, has been a vital part of the underserved Harbordale neighborhood for over 24 years. The St. Petersburg Free Clinic (SPFC) is under contract to purchase the store and adjacent Badcock Furniture site at 2200 Dr. MLK Jr. St. S.
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6 days ago | 
stpetecatalyst.com | Mark Parker
Pinellas County transportation officials plan to purchase up to two high-speed vessels, which they would then lease to a private operator for an enhanced ferry service between St. Petersburg and Tampa. An unused $4.86 million federal grant approaching its termination date would fund the acquisition. Brad Miller, CEO of the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA), said owning the vessels would reduce hourly operating costs by hundreds of dollars.
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1 week ago | 
stpetecatalyst.com | Mark Parker
A community-focused housing developer built a unique South St. Petersburg project in a year, despite delays caused by back-to-back hurricanes, while forging new relationships with local stakeholders. The Bayou Court Apartments now provides 60 affordable homes – 12 for those earning 50% or less of the area median income – across the street from Lakewood Elementary School. It also offers hope for some teachers and parents who have watched it rapidly take shape.
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1 week ago | 
stpetecatalyst.com | Mark Parker
Pinellas County is one of, if not the first, local governments to complete a federally mandated action plan that will ensure it receives $813.8 million in disaster recovery funding. County Commissioners approved the action plan Tuesday after extensive public outreach. It outlines several programs, including disaster relief payments, to help residents, businesses and communities rebound from a devastating hurricane season. The plan remains available for public review and comment through May 23.
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1 week ago | 
tbnweekly.com | Mark Parker |Pete Catalyst
ST. PETERSBURG — Long-awaited plans to breathe new life into the St. Petersburg Municipal Marina recently hit a snag after Blackstone, a trillion-dollar global investment firm, acquired Safe Harbor Marinas. Mayor Ken Welch selected Safe Harbor Marinas to reimagine and operate the aging 640-slip marina in late December 2023. The city-owned facility along the downtown waterfront suffered extensive damage during Hurricane Helene.
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1 week ago | 
stpetecatalyst.com | Mark Parker
Mayor Ken Welch has frequently noted that former Gas Plant residents and their descendants have waited 40 years for the site to provide economic revitalization. The wait will soon end. The City of St. Petersburg is exploring redevelopment opportunities around the Historic Gas Plant site’s outer perimeter to help fulfill long-deferred promises to the predominantly Black community that once called the neighborhood home.
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1 week ago | 
stpetecatalyst.com | Mark Parker
Doug Dozark was at the center of a craft brewery explosion that helped fuel St. Petersburg’s renaissance. He believes the industry’s heyday has since faded into a condominium tower-obscured sunset. Dozark recently announced Cycle Brewing’s imminent closure in a video posted to social media. However, details surrounding why he would close the city’s oldest craft brewery – and his next steps – have remained scarce.
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1 week ago | 
stpetecatalyst.com | Mark Parker
Several organizations joined forces Saturday to provide local students with an afternoon of space-themed activities designed to inspire interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) careers. About 100 people attended the third annual Lealman STEM Day event, dubbed Space 4 All. Area students in grades 5 through 8 met an astrophysicist and tested model rockets and lunar landers. Most importantly, STEM Day allowed area youth to explore high-paying, in-demand careers.
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1 week ago | 
stpetecatalyst.com | Mark Parker
Local low-income seniors will soon have hundreds of new affordable housing options, with some units dedicated to households earning just 40% of the area median income. The Pinellas County Housing Authority (PCHA) recently acquired an undeveloped parcel in northeast St. Petersburg that will house Flats on 4th, an 80-unit senior housing development. The first phase of an 80-unit redevelopment project in unincorporated Largo is nearing completion, and demolition on the second begins this week.
