St. Pete arts group has grand plans for giant warehouse complex
By Eric Snider
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Nov 3, 2014

In just a couple of years, the Warehouse Arts District has become the creative nexus of St. Petersburg.

The area - which runs from 1st Avenue North to 10th Avenue South, and 16th to 31st streets - is home to a variety of studios, galleries and arts organizations, but also includes a lot of industrial businesses.

Now the nonprofit Warehouse Arts District Association (WADA) is making a bold move to solidify the district as an arts haven for years to come.

The group has under contract a 2.7-acre site that includes some 50,000 square feet of warehouse space in six buildings - with plans to transform it into the Warehouse Arts District Enclave, which will include artist (and perhaps recording) studios and galleries, performance spaces, a brewery/restaurant. In all, a draw for locals and tourists alike.

The roughly $1.1 million project, at 22nd Street and 5th Avenue So., will also geographically tie together two large institutions - St. Petersburg Clay Company and Duncan McClellan Glass - thus helping ensure the warehouse district will maintain its arts emphasis.

Furthermore, the nonprofit project will provide dozens of artists with affordable studio space without the fear of being eventually forced out due to gentrification.

Peter Denne, who used to run Ace Recycling in part of the warehouse space, owns the property holds the contract with WADA. He has extended some attractive terms. The sale price is $975,000. After the organization produces a $200,000 down payment, Denne will finance the remainder at 5 percent interest, said Mark Aeling, president of WADA.

Denne said he has received considerable interest from industrial operators willing to pay more (and cash) for the property, but "everything isn't just about money. I want to see the property go to the arts district."

Larry Biddle, who has contracted with WADA to raise the upfront money - donations not investment buy-ins - said he has amassed $96,000, which includes a match of up to $50,000 from the city of St. Petersburg.The dollar goal is $350,000, with the extra capital going toward the project's build-out.

The initiative has some powerful allies. It's a pet project of Mayor Rick Kriseman, Biddle said. Attorney Robert Kapusta is doing legal work.

Philanthropist Alfred T. May has kicked in $10,000, St. Petersburg city councilman Karl Nurse $5,000.

If WADA meets its December down payment deadline, it will likely close on the property in January and begin the build-out soon after. Aeling thinks the first phase can be completed in six months and the Enclave can be realized a year after that. He said 75 artists from around the country have expressed interest in renting below-market-rate studio space.

"The place is going to be bohemian," Aeling said. "With all those artists running around, how could it not be?"

Eric Snider is a reporter for the Tampa Bay Business Journal.