NEXT STOP: THE DEUCES
Downtown St. Petersburg and surrounding neighborhoods have seen an influx of development. The Deuces area has largely been left out of the boom — until now.

By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Aug 5, 2022

St. Petersburg’s 22nd Street South, nicknamed The Deuces, has spent decades trying to rediscover its identity.

The 22nd Street corridor south of First Avenue South is a mix of vacant parcels interspersed with businesses like 3 Daughters Brewing, indoor hydroponic farm Brick Street Farms and the Morean Center for Clay, the largest pottery studio in the Southeastern U.S.

While downtown St. Petersburg and surrounding neighborhoods have seen an influx of development, new residents and storefronts in recent years, The Deuces has largely been left out of the boom — until now. The 22nd Street South corridor is on the cusp of a new era as the city looks to alter its zoning codes to make way for mixed-use development in the mostly industrial area. SunRunner, a bus rapid transit line, will run by The Deuces after its October launch, piquing the interest of real estate developers who see opportunity in transit-oriented projects.

Plans are still in early stages but city staff has proposed an overlay system that would classify areas around the SunRunner stops as downtown, urban, village and neighborhood, allowing for different types of development in each category. The idea stems from recommendations in the SunRunner Rising Development Study — a federally funded project through the Federal Transit Administration’s Transit-Oriented Development Pilot Program — and a collaboration between the city, Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority and Forward Pinellas.

The proposed zoning change would categorize The Deuces SunRunner stop at First Avenue and 22nd Street South as “urban,” which could make properties up to half a mile from the stop eligible for mixed-use development. That would be a first in this portion of The Deuces, which has long been held to rigid industrial zoning.

“It’s that permanence of a public investment in access to transportation that encourages a certain kind of development,” said Cassandra Borchers, chief development officer of PSTA, which operates SunRunner. “The reason we look at a half mile is that is the walkable distance to the stations. Again, [it’s about] how are you providing access to the places people want to go.”

St. Pete, Borchers said, has a great urban fabric that is both enhanced and supported by the SunRunner. Evan Mory, the city’s transportation and parking management director, said the new service will allow the city to justify higher density in areas not previously served by mass transit.

In turn, more dense development will generate greater transit ridership. He said they “feed off each other” and it was the “perfect example of how land use and transportation go hand-in-hand.”

“It’s typical to see this type of thing occur with either new rail or new bus rapid transit,” Mory said. “That’s one of the reasons why St. Petersburg and PSTA are so excited we’re having this in St. Pete — that’s the first in the region. Recognizing this was the potential, we engaged with the transit-oriented development study not just for St. Pete but for Pinellas County and other cities this goes to.”

Liz Abernethy, the city’s planning and development services director, said there are several steps ahead to bring the new overlay system to fruition. The city is working on engaging a consultant to assist with the next steps.

Those steps include a countywide map amendment, amending the city’s comprehensive plan, amending the city’s future land use plan, creating the zoning and land development regulation for the overlay system and holding additional stakeholder meetings for the areas in question.

With all of that, any zoning changes are unlikely before early 2023.

Joe Furst, founder and managing principal of Place Projects, has acquired approximately 7 acres of vacant land along 22nd Street South over the last several years. In that time, Furst has been working with other stakeholders and the city to accomplish the zoning changes that are under consideration.

If the zoning changes are approved, Furst plans a mixed-use development on his acreage — which has been vacant for years — with a vision of bringing a new wave of residents and businesses to the corridor.

“Our goal is quite simple,” said Furst, who is based in Miami. “We want to develop the most vibrant, unique and, in a way, culturally fluid area in St. Petersburg. The Deuces has an amazing historical context. There are all the maker and creative spaces in the Warehouse Arts District.

“There are already thriving businesses like 3 Daughters, and you’re right on the outer band of downtown,” Furst said. “Connect that to a mass transit stop like the SunRunner, and there’s no reason that it shouldn’t be a continuation of the success St. Pete has been seeing in other areas.”

Furst said St. Pete has a need for more intentional mixed-use environments: buildings that are perhaps eight to 10 stories with an intentional focus on the public realm as well as active street-level spaces to “create the connectivity that’s been lacking along 22nd Street.”

One unique aspect of the corridor is that the Pinellas Trail runs diagonally through it. Furst said he will make it his goal to use the property he has near the trail to create a destination for those biking or walking the “underutilized space.”

If the zoning changes, Abernethy said, there will probably be other elements in place to ensure the new development is compatible with surrounding areas. Under the proposed zoning, a neighborhood might have more residents living closer to the SunRunner stop with a larger mix of artist studios and breweries with smaller-scale housing farther from the stop.

One problem with the proposed zoning change: The half-mile boundary ends roughly where the interstate cuts through 22nd Street. The historic Black business and entertainment district would be left out.

Elihu and Carolyn Brayboy have been restoring buildings along 22nd Street’s historic business district for years. The Brayboys said there were 152 Black-owned businesses on the street during segregation. Decades later, the businesses were boarded up, and the buildings were decaying. Elihu Brayboy said they realized if they wanted the community to be different it was going to be up to them.

So, they got to work.

They’re best known for their renovation of a property they later turned into Chief’s Creole Café. It has an attached courtyard filled with greenery and blossoming flowers, a fountain and dangling lights. It is often packed with visitors eating Louisiana classics like crawfish etouffee and jambalaya. The couple now owns a collection of parcels and buildings along the corridor, many of which are home to Black women-owned businesses.

One building, home to Lorene’s Fish House, is under renovation and the couple intends to create a place for entrepreneurs to have access to small, affordable spaces. The building, which went up in the 1920s, has come to symbolize Black business owners’ challenges during segregation.

According to Elihu Brayboy, the building is brick and mortar rather than concrete because the Ku Klux Klan had told local concrete suppliers not to sell to Black businesses. When they couldn’t get the supplies, the original developer turned instead to brick and mortar and eventually, the building was constructed.

The years of empty, shuttered businesses have left the corridor with a reputation that the Brayboys say is hard, even now, to shake. Many other developers and investors have been reluctant to take a chance on the corridor.

Others who would consider doing so have struggled to acquire financing — a systemic issue the Brayboys said Black entrepreneurs and developers still face today.

Slowly, the Brayboys have been changing said reputation as they restore and open — often out of their own pocket or with help from groups like the Florida Community Loan Fund — businesses throughout the block. But despite the multiple successes, the street is still a shadow of its former thriving character.

“When we first started investing, this place was a ghost town,” Elihu Brayboy said. “Kids would walk past here who had never seen a business open on this street. What we’re trying to do is simple. We’re buying the deteriorating buildings and restoring them because we believe they could have a strong economic future. We’re not trying to dominate and do everything ourselves; we’ve invited other people to come and look at this community. But so far, few have really seen and understood the vision.”

The concept of walkability is one that other St. Pete neighborhoods have successfully adopted over the years. Branching off downtown, Central Avenue has grown into individual communities — the Edge district and Grand Central district — and other areas of the city like the Innovation district and the upcoming redevelopment of Tropicana Field highlight the desire to build individual corridors where people can live, work and play.

Veatrice Farrell, executive director of the nonprofit Deuces Live, said transportation, infrastructure improvements and zoning upgrades are critical components of redevelopment and deserve community conversation.

St. Petersburg City Council chairwoman Gina Driscoll added that much like the Edge district has seen the ripple effects of the success of downtown, she sees a real opportunity for the proposed zoning alterations to ripple down the entire street.

“This will help to jump-start the entire Deuces corridor and really revitalize all of that by the transition from Central Avenue and First Avenue South where we’ll have the SunRunner all the way down 22nd Street,” Driscoll said. “I see the opportunity for businesses all along the corridor to benefit. As those businesses grow, the residential will become even more attractive because so many people want to have those walkable neighborhoods.”

Driscoll said no “cookie-cutter solution” exists and it’s imperative the individual character of the communities be preserved while undergoing the evolution envisioned by the city and developers.

The Brayboys agreed that the zoning changes proposed for the other end of 22nd Street will eventually benefit the businesses on their side of the interstate as a wave of new residents moves nearby.

However, they said they feel left out of the conversation and that the proposed half-mile marker feels like another barrier for their community.

Carolyn Brayboy said the couple has ambitions of building a mixed-use development of their own that would bring some residents south of Interstate 275, but the current zoning doesn’t allow for enough density to make financing the project work. Under the current zoning, they can only build approximately 20 units on four parcels, which the couple said does not make them “bankable.”

While the proposal may have a trickle-down effect for their portion of 22nd Street, the Brayboys sent a letter to the Pinellas Board of County Commissioners saying they were opposed to ending the proposed zoning change at I-275.

“If the proposed zoning change requested is good for the northern portion of the corridor, it should also be good for property owners like us on the southern portion of the 22nd Street corridor,” the Brayboys wrote in the letter on July 22. “Please do not support a plan that looks like and feels like a modern-day ‘Jim Crow’ strategy and is not inclusive.”

Further unlocking 22nd Street South

The Deuces Rising, a vision of transformation for the corridor, includes plans for new parks, affordable housing and resources for private businesses.

The Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum plans to relocate from its 4,000-square-foot facility to a 30,000-square-foot museum on 22nd Street South. It’s an estimated $30 million endeavor, and the museum has currently raised approximately $5 million for the project.

A large portion of the proposed transformation is planned for the vacant parcels across from the Historic Manhattan Casino right before you hit the interstate.

The Sankofa project is a mix of a digital and technological business incubator and multimedia studio, an event hall and affordable townhomes. It includes the construction of 24 two-story townhomes and two commercial facilities that would have an incubator, offices and retail. Construction is tentatively planned for December.

The Legacy Center Project, a two-story building also across from the Historic Manhattan Casino, will be a social justice hub and incubator space. Led by the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, this hub is expected to be a destination for workshops and conferences.