Melting Pot to anchor redevelopment on St. Pete's Central Avenue
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jan 24, 2023

A local developer has struck a deal with The Melting Pot to anchor a redevelopment of a 1920s building along Central Avenue in downtown St. Petersburg.

Paradise Ventures, based in Safety Harbor, is about to begin a major overhaul of 695 Central Ave. The developer paid $3.4 million for the two-story, 16,000-square-foot building in December 2019. Melting Pot has leased 4,900 square feet; the remainder of the 8,000-square-foot first floor will be leased to another restaurant tenant.

The Covid-19 pandemic, along with other market issues, delayed the renovation, Paradise CEO Mike Connor told the Tampa Bay Business Journal. He said Paradise contemplated demolishing the building and starting fresh but ultimately decided to gut it and begin an in-depth renovation.

“It’s a hideous building, so to finally be able to do what we wanted to do for a long time there is great,” Connor said. “We’re very excited to see it come to life finally.”

The building is across from the Chihuly Collection and next door to the Morean Arts Center. Paradise has already gutted the interior, and further renovations will begin in the next few weeks. Once the interior changes are complete, they’ll begin working on the storefront.

The development team includes D-Mar Construction and St. Pete’s Place Architecture. Jon Mott, director of real estate and a partner with Paradise Ventures, is in charge of leasing.

Connor said the work will be complete in August or September, at which point Paradise will turn over the interior spaces to tenants to complete their buildouts. Melting Pot will likely open in early 2024.

The Melting Pot closed its long-standing location at 2221 Fourth St. N in 2020.

Sandia Wasserman, a broker representing the Melting Pot, reached out to Connor to discuss bringing the restaurant to the renovated space. Connor said they discussed what the Melting Pot is today versus what it used to be at its location on Fourth Street. He said it used to be in a much larger space and was very dark and didn’t fit his vision for the future of this site.

However, Melting Pot presented a new concept. He said their plan is for a “much more open space that has a more modern feel to it.”

“I was very happy they wanted to come here,” Connor said. “They’ve been in the market a long time. They stepped away for a while, but they know the market; they know St. Pete. It’s been an institution for a long time in this market.”

As for the other restaurant space, Connor said Paradise is “being somewhat selective” as they want to find the right tenant for the approximately 2,700-square-foot space. He said they are looking for an operator with at least one location under their belt. Connor said they are currently talking to an established group that has a new concept.

Image Studios has approximately 6,400 square feet of office space on the second floor. If a tenant from the ground floor needs additional office space, they can lease the remaining 1,600 square feet upstairs. If not, Connor said Paradise Ventures may open a satellite office in the space, or they will build it out speculatively for another tenant.

Connor said part of the renovation includes adding balconies to the second level.