A former Verizon retail store that has sat vacant for over five years will soon be home to EDGE Animal Hospital, a state-of-the-art veterinary facility. Located at 913 1st Avenue North in the EDGE District of Downtown St. Pete, the new clinic will be owned by Dr. Raul Buso, who also owns the Haines Road Animal Hospital.

As more residents continue to move into Downtown St Pete, we will begin to see more retail catering to residents, as opposed to retail for tourists or day-trippers. That means more barbershops, hardware stores, and animal hospitals in addition to restaurants, coffee shops, and bars.

Some may remember when this building almost became a Dunkin’ Donuts with a drive thru in 2018. Luckily, a large number of residents and business owners turned out to a DRC meeting in opposition and the committee listened, denying the Dunkin Donuts permission to construct a drive-thru. Soon after, Dunkin’ walked away from the deal.

A year later in May 2019, Dr. Buso bought the 3,100 square foot building and 26-space parking lot with plans to house a new full-service animal hospital. The facility will include five exam rooms, in addition to space dedicated to radiology, dentistry, and surgery. Dr. Buso hopes to grow the business enough over the next few years to bring on more doctors.

There’s sometimes a misconception that animal hospitals only handle emergencies, but that often isn’t the case. “The terms ‘vet clinic’ and ‘animal hospital’ are almost used interchangeably,” says Dr. Buso. “We use ‘animal hospital’ because we’ll offer a wide variety of services from routine checkups to emergencies, surgery, x-ray, and ultrasound.”

Dr. Buso, who wants the new clinic to be focused on community relationships, thinks “A lot of emphasis has been placed on St. Petersburg being pet friendly, but we need vets too! We want to know everybody, we want to participate in events, collaborate with other local businesses. We want people to feel at home.

Building a community relationship starts with being transparent. “Customers will know up-front what services we recommend and how we’re pricing them,” says Dr. Buso. “We want to create a lot of confidence with the community.” 

Dr. Buso also hopes to utilize his new 26-space parking lot for community events. “I’d love to have food trucks come over on the weekends and have people visit with their pets,” says Dr. Buso.

Branding for the EDGE Animal Hospital was developed by the local marketing experts at Hype Group, who’ve also created brands for Green Bench Brewing, Bodega on Central, and Pacific Counter.

EDGE Animal Hospital is currently in permitting, but buildout of the space should move quickly once permits are approved. The anticipated opening date is 2Q 2020.