ST. PETE'S MOST INNOVATIVE NEIGHBORHOOD
THE INNOVATION DISTRICT, HOME TO INDUSTRIES FROM MARINE SCIENCE TO HEALTH CARE, IS ON THE VERGE OF A NEW ERA.

By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Sep 8, 2023

St. Petersburg's Innovation District is already a bustling neighborhood — one where business and civic leaders see even more potential for economic growth.

The streets are lined with a mix of repurposed historic buildings and state-of-the-art research facilities. Students walk to class on the same sidewalks where researchers hustle to their labs. Nurses and doctors grab lunch beside tech founders pitching their latest ideas. Residents walk their dogs through Historic Roser Park to the echoes of ambulances rushing to two nearby hospitals.

Within the district's one-square-mile boundaries are the Dali Museum, University of South Florida St. Petersburg, Albert Whitted Airport, Bayfront Health, Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, Duke Energy and the ARK Innovation Center. The district contains more than 50 organizations across the health care, education, marine science and technology sectors.

The district was established in 2016 as a public-private partnership, and its growth has been largely organic. Alison Barlow, the district's executive director, has built a collaborative reputation that continues to attract new businesses. Now, the city is putting more resources behind the district: Civil engineering firm Kimley-Horn has been hired to create a master plan that will give the district a sense of space and elevate it to destination status for St. Pete tourists and residents.

The master plan comes at a pivotal time for the district and St. Pete as a whole. It will create a framework for the district's next decade, at a time when many of its stakeholders are completing their own master plans and considering their next evolutions. It will also consider the potential development at the two major city-owned properties that bookend the district: Tropicana Field, also known as the Historic Gas Plant District, and Albert Whitted Airport.

Cradle of creativity

Most of the stakeholders in the Innovation District knew one another before it was created.

Conversations of creating a district were underway as early as 2011 when Kanika Tomalin was vice president of strategic planning and public affairs for Bayfront Health System. Tomalin played a key role in advocating for the district and later served as deputy mayor under former Mayor Rick Kriseman. She is now president of the Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg — also a district stakeholder.

Tomalin said one of the initial goals was to create a sense of community. They worked to bring restaurants and businesses to the area that would attract people who weren’t there to work or receive health care. The Library, a sister restaurant to Tampa's Oxford Exchange, has gone a long way toward meeting that goal. It allows developers to get a glimpse of the district's potential, Tomalin said.

“Everything we are seeing transpire in the Innovation District today is the direct result of a few committed people thinking big the previous years,” she said. “We need our region’s biggest thinkers and most capable doers to imagine not what’s there, but to imagine possibilities.”

Barlow was hired in 2017 to create a unified vision for the district. A streetscape and connectivity plan was completed within a few years, but the Covid-19 pandemic slowed the progress.

With two projects underway in the district, Bayfront Health is a prime example of the collaborative dynamic. Bayfront, which is part of Orlando Health, will soon begin construction on two facilities at Institute Square: Bayfront Health Medical Pavilion (145,000 square feet) and the Bayfront Health Women's Pavilion outpatient complex (63,315 square feet). Turner Construction is the general contractor for both.

LaTasha Barnes, chief financial officer of Bayfront Health St. Petersburg and board member for the district, said Bayfront owns more property beyond what is about to begin construction. She said there’s “definitely the opportunity for growth” both inside the district and elsewhere in the city.

True to the district's collaborative roots, Bayfront has a partnership with Turner Construction for its School of Construction Management Program, which launches this fall. The health system also partners with the Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg.

Groundwork for growth

The redevelopment of the 86-acre Historic Gas Plant district — currently home to Tropicana Field — will play a key role in the future of the Innovation District, which abuts the edge of the soon-to-be-redeveloped property.

The city is also studying the best economic use of Albert Whitted Airport, which occupies just over 100 acres of the district. Brian Caper, the city's economic and workforce director, said that with those projects underway, it “felt like it was the right time” to start the district's master plan.

Kimley-Horn’s master plan is expected to take 12 to 14 months. Caper said city staff hopes to present the master plan's scope of services and budget to city council by October. Because of the timing, the master plan will include impacts from the Gas Plant’s development agreement.

HR&A Advisors will conduct an economic impact study of the airport. The city is discussing the scope and budget for that project, with hopes of also bringing it to council by October.

The district's master plan will have two separate focuses. The northern part is zoned as a secondary employment center for the city. Under that zoning, the city is encouraging urban designs that prioritize the pedestrian experience. The density is still significantly less than what is permitted in downtown St. Pete, but mixed-use projects are encouraged.

Originally the city wanted to see the entire district filled with larger, multipurpose buildings. However, when FEMA updated its maps, the southern portion of the district fell into the new coastal high-hazard area. Those areas are prone to flooding and thus require far less intensive projects.

Caper said the northern portion of the master plan will attempt to identify opportunities for synergistic growth and collaboration. Barlow said an example might be Johns Hopkins or Bayfront partnering with USF St. Pete’s nursing program.

The master plan for the southern portion of the district will have a more traditional land use study. Caper said they’d be exploring what their options are due to the limitations of a coastal high-hazard zone and delve into what might be complementary to surrounding neighborhoods.

Transportation's critical role

The district is home to the Port of St. Petersburg, which has a 23-foot depth right off the wall and is often used for research vessels.

The depth allows for larger vessels than are permitted at a recreational port but is not so large that larger commercial vehicles can utilize the space.

At the port, the city wants to expand the maritime and defense technology hub, which celebrated its first anniversary earlier this year. A second building will be built adjacent to the current at 450 8th Ave. SE and will include larger bay space for tenants.

Caper said transit and transportation are going to be “a critical part” of the master plan, ranging from micro-mobility options to autonomous shuttles. The district contains a SunRunner station and several bus stops. Students from an urban planning class at USF examined the district and presented the idea of having a multimodal transit stop within the district.

“Some of the constraints are some of the things that make the district so unique and promising,” Tomalin said. “The anchor institutions that comprise it are pretty specific in their core functions and purpose. It takes a bit of investment and understanding of the value proposition for institutions that are not medical, research or education in nature to understand what is it in the Innovation District for them.”

What comes next

Once the master plan and airport study are complete and the gas plant district redevelopment is underway, the Innovation District will have a clear vision of what the next chapter of its evolution will look like.

If Albert Whitted remains, height restrictions will remain in place for portions of the district — though those areas may move farther east if the airport shifts its runway.

The airport could also evolve to offer more services. Barlow said in five to 10 years, it’s possible the airport could be used for drone travel or package delivery to the downtown core. It could also attract entrepreneurs in aviation and businesses that require small aircraft for their research.

The airport study is not an “all or nothing” conversation, Caper said, and it will also examine keeping the airport but shifting it to free up land closer to the Innovation District. While an airport can present challenges for development, Caper said it’s important to acknowledge that it is a community asset.

The district has a range of needs, from micro-office spaces to more research spaces that will allow entrepreneurs to grow beyond the incubator phase. Barlow is also looking for ways to activate underutilized assets like Poynter Park, which is currently only used a few times a year.

“From the district perspective, our focus is on making sure we have the capacity within the district to pursue those opportunities,” Barlow said. “And making sure we have the staff and the ability to do that. We do a lot with a little and will continue to do that. I just want to make sure we don’t miss an opportunity.”

Katrina Mason, senior associate director of community engagement for Johns Hopkins and board member for the district, is chairperson of a group focused on shared amenities.

Mason said they’re looking at properties in the district and evaluating how to finance things like childcare and workforce housing. They're considering partnerships with nonprofit builders and could potentially be partnering with a developer on workforce housing, with a portion of the residences reserved for employees within the district.

“The world is changing; it changes all the time, and if we’re not moving with it, we’re going to be left behind,” Barnes, Bayfront's CFO, said. “I just think it’s a great opportunity and a great asset within the city that can bring that kind of momentum to the industry, to the economy here.”