Real Estate Views from St Pete

Downtown St Pete is a hub for marine sciences and ocean technology. Employing over 1,600 people in downtown St Pete, the various new and old buildings are basically between the Albert Whitted Airport and Bayboro Harbor, in and around the University of South Florida St Petersburg (which now has 6,000 students). The Ocean Team members include:

• University of South Florida, College of Marine Science, Center for Ocean Technology & Research Foundation
• Florida Fish and Wildlife
• SRI 
• US Geological Survey
• NOAA National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration
• IOI  International Ocean Institute
• Tampa Bay Estuary Program
• Florida Institute of Oceanography
• US Coast Guard St Petersburg
• USF St Petersburg
• Pier Aquarium

Taken this morning with my iPhone 4, looking west down a canal in the Broadwater neighborhood in St Petersburg.

St Petersburg's Beach Drive

is the best place to be reads the headline in this morning's St Pete Times. Their article talks about some of the history of Beach Drive and how it's become a very desirable place to live, work and play.

We saw this in 2008 when an optical shop moved out along Beach Drive - before there was even a sign saying the space was available, we grabbed it - and opened our new boutique real estate company, ALVA International. Beach Drive has become real estate row, in addition to the many restaurants, shops & museums and of course the parks and waterfront. We love being right in the middle of all that.

Dog walkers, joggers, bicycles and horse-drawn carriages - you never know what's coming next along Beach Drive. Several places to have your morning coffee, and sidewalk cafes offer lunch and dinner as well. 

Friday architect Yann Weymouth was in St Petersburg to discuss the Salvador Dali Museum here in downtown St Pete that he designed. He's frequently here to oversee the construction, of course, but rarely do we have a chance to listen to him and ask questions. He was the speaker at the Vinoy Business Alliance lunch at the Renaissance Vinoy Hotel on Friday. The screen is showing a view of the spiral staircase in the lobby which extends up to what is perhaps the world's largest finial. It was fascinating listening to how his designs came about. You can see some renderings of the new museum here. The new building will open 1-11-1111.  Yann found that he really likes St Pete so has recently moved here to Pinellas County.  Welcome, Yann!