New local wine club Savoir on Central to open in the Grand Central District next month

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New local wine club Savoir on Central to open in the Grand Central District next month

From rolling vineyards across the world to the luxury Michelin-starred restaurants, every glass of wine tells a story that a local sommelier and her team want to share with St. Pete wine aficionados.

Sommelier Sharon Mahoney and business partner Christina Noordstar are introducing a new upscale wine club offering wine education classes, tastings, and exclusive curated collections at 2531 Central Avenue.

Named Savoir on Central, the new club, open to both the public and members, will debut in late May at the former home of the Rasta Canna Bar in the Grand Central District.

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100-year-old storm-damaged building in downtown St. Pete expected to be demolished for boutique hotel

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100-year-old storm-damaged building in downtown St. Pete expected to be demolished for boutique hotel

After suffering significant damage from last year’s back-to-back hurricanes, a 10-story, 100-year-old building in downtown St. Pete is expected to be demolished and replaced with a boutique hotel.

Local entrepreneur and developer Steve Gianfilippo of Gianco Companies, who purchased the building at 300 Central Avenue in 2017, filed plans on Monday with the City of St. Pete for a 16-story hotel, named The Coronet, which will incorporate mid-century design elements reminiscent of the original structure.

The existing, vacant structure will undergo interim repairs while plans for the new hotel are being drawn up.

“In the seven years that I’ve owned the building, we’ve looked at a few different options,” said Gianfilippo in a conversation with St. Pete Rising. “At first, we considered turning it into fully furnished apartments. But with thousands of new apartments already planned or built recently, we saw a larger opportunity to bring a new boutique hotel to downtown St. Pete.”

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HSN has listed its 65-acre property in north St. Pete

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HSN has listed its 65-acre property in north St. Pete

Spanning nearly 65 acres in Pinellas County and surrounded by some of the region’s largest employers, the long-time campus of the Home Shopping Network (HSN) is now officially on the market.

Commercial real estate firm CBRE is marketing the property at 2501 118th Avenue North for an undisclosed price. Zoned for commercial use, the site includes over 487,000 square feet of office and industrial space across nine buildings, developed between 1984 and 1994.

The listing follows a major announcement from HSN’s parent company, Qurate Retail Group, which is consolidating HSN and QVC operations into its Studio Park headquarters in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

As part of the move, Qurate will shutter the 369,000-square-foot St. Pete campus—its home for the past 47 years—and eliminate 730 local jobs beginning in late May.

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World’s largest 3D-printing facility opens in St. Pete, powered by AI and robots

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World’s largest 3D-printing facility opens in St. Pete, powered by AI and robots

Inside a 32,000-square-foot industrial facility north of St. Pete’s EDGE District, towering crane-like robots are 3D printing everything from chairs to cold plunge tubs—all using sustainable, recyclable materials.

Haddy, a 3D-printed furniture company powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning, has officially opened its new micro-factory at 251 10th Street North. It is now the largest 3D-printing facility in the world.

"We will have micro-facilities all over the world," said CEO Jay Rogers during the April 10th grand opening, joined by partners from Siemens AG and CEAD, a Netherlands-based tech company revolutionizing large-scale composite manufacturing.

Rogers, a Marine Corps veteran, co-founded Haddy in 2022 with CTO Kyle Rowe. Before relocating, the company operated out of a 20,000-square-foot space in St. Pete’s Warehouse Arts District.

The new facility, formerly home to Mayflower Transit moving company, is owned by Rick Leonard—President of Bradenton-based Sunz Insurance—and Eastman Equity, run by prominent investor Jonathan Daou.

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Professional bodybuilder opens high-end training gym in north St. Pete

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Professional bodybuilder opens high-end training gym in north St. Pete

A new gym is coming to St. Petersburg’s Gateway area this summer. Champs Elysium Gym is a semi-private facility created by professional bodybuilder Derek Lunsford and his wife, Jhelsin. It will open at 3051 Tech Drive in a 15,000-square-foot industrial space.

The gym will cater to elite athletes, bodybuilders, and fitness enthusiasts. Membership will be limited to maintain a focused training environment. “We aren’t trying to compete with other gyms,” said Lunsford. “Each one offers something different. Ours will be capped so it never feels overcrowded.”

The name Champs Elysium comes from Greek mythology. It refers to a paradise reserved for heroes and the righteous.

Inside, the gym will feature over 150 pieces of strength and cardio equipment. Most machines are from Newtech, a South Korea-based company that designs gear specifically for bodybuilders. The brand is also a title sponsor of the Olympia World Championship.

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