Anti-gentrification approach shapes tenant mix at MLK Jr. Street development in South St. Pete
By Emma Behrmann
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Sep 1, 2026

A long-neglected stretch of St. Petersburg’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street South is starting to take shape with local tenants slated to breathe new life into the corridor.

Local developer John Barkett and his wife, Julie, announced The Looking Glass Initiative last year with a plan to reinvent an old retail strip and bring a neighborhood grocer, a coffee shop, retail spaces and more to the two neglected city blocks along MLK Jr. Street South, abutting Historic Roser Park, Campbell Park and 13th Street Heights.

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