St. Pete developer finds a niche in neighborhood retail centers
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jan 26, 2024

When St. Petersburg developer Robert Blackmon found a food truck operator who wanted to open in the strip center he owns near Northeast High School, it felt like the final piece of the puzzle was sliding into place.

Def Burger, which built a loyal following in Savannah, Georgia, has signed a lease for the 2,250-square-foot corner unit, which was previously home to Hillside Sundries. The food truck will be parked in the Hillside Center parking lot during construction to build a customer base. Blackmon, a former St. Pete City Council member, said he’d always wanted a restaurant for the space, as that was the original use for that storefront when the strip center was built in 1957.

Blackmon is tackling retail redevelopment at a turbulent time in the industry, but he believes he’s found a formula that works: restoring aging strip centers with tenants that cater to the local neighborhood. He purchased the 5,600-square-foot shopping plaza at 1506 54th Ave. N in 2019 for $450,000, according to Pinellas County property records. He’s spent $400,000 improving the property and said it has positive cash flow now that it’s fully leased.

The plaza is also home to Bayview Barber Co., Spindrift Aesthetics, Fem Iron Infusion Center and 54th Ave. Hair Studio. Blackmon said the tenants reflect the three industries most important to residents, and the plaza will become a “one-stop-shop” for neighbors.

“The impact of these refurbishing projects are twofold: you’re reducing blight, and you’re bringing opportunity,” he said. “You’re bringing businesses to the neighborhood, which is a complete 180 [degrees] from the blighted, stagnant property that was here before. The zoning is so tough sometimes to put these commercial buildings in these residential neighborhoods, so it’s important to take advantage of these older properties.”

While downtown and the urban neighborhoods along Central Avenue have a plethora of retail options, most of the city’s other neighborhoods severely lack commercial options. Those neighborhoods, he said, will be the target for the next wave of investment.

“The costs are much lower than downtown, which is, in turn, passed on to the user,” Blackmon said. “Where do you go if you’re a business owner and you can’t afford downtown? There has to be a middle ground between downtown quality and out-of-downtown prices. These plazas are the answer.”