First piece of Goodyear Rubber’s St. Pete property has sold
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Mar 22, 2023

Two local real estate investors have purchased the corner lot of the Goodyear Rubber Products property in St. Petersburg’s Grand Central district.

Goodyear Rubber Products Inc. moved its corporate headquarters from its location at 1912 Central Ave. to Clearwater in February. The company took up nearly an entire city block on Central Avenue across from the Imagine Museum.

Rossi and Linda Bonugli, the co-founders of Properties by BLR, purchased the two-story warehouse at 1900 Central Ave. for $2.39 million in mid-March, according to a deed filed in Pinellas County. The warehouse is approximately 8,000 square feet, according to the property appraiser.

Rossi Bonugli told the Tampa Bay Business Journal they own several properties in St. Petersburg and currently have no definitive plans for the Goodyear site.

The Goodyear site, due to a lack of parking and being a vacant warehouse, is going to be complicated. Though he’s already had one group reach out, he’s not sure what the best fit is for the site.

“I’m not in a rush to do anything,” Bonugli said. “The area is obviously very up-and-coming, and there’s a lot of city planning going on for that area. It’s very close to [Tropicana Field]. If I do nothing but sit on this property, I’ll be happy with that, and if an opportunity presents itself, say someone needs to do a buildout for a restaurant, I’ll be happy to talk about that then.”

The couple also owns the Art to Art Gallery at 534 28th St. S and are building an approximately 4,800-square-foot strip mall at 502 28th St. S. The property is in the early stages of construction, and Bonugli intends to subdivide the space into four units. It has not yet been placed on the market, and he expects construction to be complete by October.

They also own property at 2730 Central Ave. and 2734 Central Ave., which he intends to redevelop into a mixed-use building with four retail units on the ground floor and 16 apartments on two stories above the commercial. The project is currently in the design phase, and he anticipates breaking ground by March 2024.

Bob Jacobs, owner of Goodyear Rubber Products Inc., told the Business Journal he owns seven properties on that block. He intends to keep two of them, 1901 First Ave. S and 1903 First Ave. S. Bonugli’s purchase marks the first of the remaining five to close. Jacobs said three others on the block are expected to close next week.

Goodyear opened in St. Pete 75 years ago, not far from the 1900 block. It was founded by Jacobs’ parents, Brooklyn transplants Murray and Jackie Jacobs.

“It’s been quite a struggle over the decades to operate a business under seven different roofs,” Jacobs said. “I looked for years to find the perfect building. Though I would have loved to stay in St. Pete, nothing was available that would really accommodate me. I found a 36,000-square-foot building in Clearwater, and about four weeks ago, I closed the store and moved our employees into the new location.”

Jacobs said the process has been “sentimental” but knows the move is the best decision for the company's future as it grows. He said his company does a “tremendous amount of business” with the city of St. Petersburg, Pinellas County and many state agencies, which has led to a need for more space.

The building at 1901 First Ave. S was a warehouse that Jacobs transformed into a ParkerStore, which sells hoses and other mechanical items. Jacobs said it will open March 27 and will be the fifth ParkerStore in his portfolio on the west coast of Florida.