St. Pete's Sundial is on the verge of a new era
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Feb 14, 2022

Sundial, the embattled open-air lifestyle center in downtown St. Petersburg, is on the verge of a new era.

Paradise Ventures, based in Safety Harbor, plans to buy the Sundial for $27.5 million in a deal set to close Feb. 17. The sale first went public when it appeared on a city council agenda in early February; council voted on Feb. 10 to amend the city’s parking agreement with the ownership of Sundial in anticipation of the sale.

St. Petersburg businessman Bill Edwards, who has owned Sundial since 2011, confirmed the sale to the Business Journal. Edwards bought the property out of foreclosure and poured $40 million into a renovation; it reopened in 2014 with a mix of restaurants and retailers.

Even in 2014, the retail lineup — which included mall tenants like White House Black Market and Chico's — surprised some commercial real estate observers, who expected more boutiques and a fast-casual restaurant. By 2016, Edwards was looking into selling the property, and by 2019 he had struck a deal for another renovation.

Edwards brought on board the developers behind the market-style food hall at Tampa's Armature Works to build a similar concept in Sundial. By 2020, construction was halted, and Edwards sued those developers, who ultimately filed for bankruptcy protection for the corporate entities affiliated with the project.

Paradise is coming in with a plan to transform the property. While the Paradise team is in the early stages of assembling a marketing plan, it's already planning to take an approximately 8,000-square-foot area on the second floor and transform it into an office space.

On the first floor, the former Locale Market space is under consideration to house a collection of two or three restaurants or bars. The site of the former FarmTable Cucina on the second floor could potentially become a fitness center.

Chuck Ernst, Paradise principal, said they are "obviously looking for things that will drive additional traffic to the project."

"It’s an excellent location," Ernst said. "With everything going on down there with the residential development we saw a lot of opportunity to reposition it going forward."