Two major St. Pete downtown waterfront properties on the cusp of a new future
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Apr 22, 2022

Two major adjacent waterfront properties in downtown St. Pete are potentially facing a new future.

The Center for the Arts — which includes the Mahaffey Theater and the Salvador Dali Museum — is currently under the spotlight as the city considers new studies to ultimately create a master plan for the area. Across the street lies the Albert Whitted Airport, which Mayor Ken Welch announced in February he was having studied so the city could “better identify the best use for the site.”

Weeks later Welch shared more of his vision for the airport — which sits on a 119-acre site — saying that while the results from the study would determine the best use for the property, he does not see high-rise development as part of that future. He added that a potential stadium was on the table and several developers and community leaders told the Business Journal that a public use like a park or the stadium would align with the city’s focus on preserving its waterfront.

Highlighting the waterfront was also part of the drive behind the proposal to begin studying the Center for the Arts. The area runs from First Avenue South to Fifth Avenue South or Dali Boulevard. A presentation on April 14 to the Public Service and Infrastructure Committee by Chris Ballestra, managing director of the city's development administration showed an early conceptual plan that would relocate the parking garage blocking the view of the museum, theater and waterfront and creating in its place an open corridor with green space.

The garage would be relocated to behind the Mahaffey in this initially proposed vision and the city would create connectivity from the Center for the Arts to Beach Drive and the downtown core.

Council is expected to see a proposal to start studying the site in the near future and if approved the actual studies themselves would take three to four months.

As for the airport next door, Welch said they are in “no rush” to finish the study and no timeline is in place as of yet for its completion.