already offers the Innovation Labs—a
place for businesses to push the boundaries
for creative problem-solving. Now
the museum is proposing a $38.6 million
expansion that will introduce a
new type of immersive experience to
the millions of people from around the
world who visit. Plans call for the addition
of virtual reality with holographic
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theater.
ACCELERATING TECHIES
Barlow reports that one of the
Innovation District’s most exciting
developments is the plan to relocate
the Tampa Bay Innovation Center to the
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bator and accelerator, the Tampa Bay
Innovation Center “has a great track
record of success and will allow us to
expand our effort to support innovation
and entrepreneurs,” says Barlow.
The proposed new 40,000-square-foot,
$12 million center will sit on two acres
of land just south of downtown at 4th
Street South and 11th Avenue South.
That’s double the size of the center’s
current facility, according to Tonya
Elmore, president and CEO.
The center will serve as an incubator
for “scalable” technology companies
and will include a small number
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posed area for advanced manufacturing
capability. “A recent study showed
a conservative $27.2 million estimated
economic impact and the opportunity
to create 220 jobs from year one when
the new center opens,” says Elmore. “It
will be a game-changer for us. There’s
nothing like it outside of a university
setting.”
Skyway Marina
District
A large blue and yellow sculpture symbolizing
the iconic Sunshine Skyway
Bridge marks the entryway to the
Skyway Marina District, a 1.5 mile
stretch of waterfront community at the
southern tip of St. Pete. The area is
poised for redevelopment, says District
Director Misty Bottorff. “We have the
water, plenty of parking and the land
to develop into a thriving designated
activity center.”
The district is home to the spacious
campus of Ceridian, a human resources
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Petersburg College Allstate Center,
which offers career training in emergency
management, law enforcement,
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and related programs. Two residential
developments are in the planning
stages—Phillips Development’s Sur
Club, and the Addison at Skyway
Marina, both upscale apartment home
communities with resort-style pools and
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One of the district’s newest businesses
is Nurse Practitioners of Pinellas,
a women-run healthcare practice,
founded and owned by Ronsha Brown.
Brown, who grew up in South St. Pete,
received her master’s in nursing from
the University of South Florida and is
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of Nurse Practitioners. Forging on an
innovative approach to healthcare,
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offers primary care, acute medical and
gynecological care, and limited pediatric
care, in lieu of a visit to the doc-
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the Skyway Marina district not far from
where I grew up has turned out to be
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is growing and Nurse Practitioners of
Pinellas will be growing with it."
BOATING HAVEN
The Skyway Marina’s western edge is
on beautiful Boca Ciega Bay, which
leads out to the Gulf of Mexico. To take
full advantage of this boating paradise,
Maximo Marina invested $20 million
to transform its marina into a state-ofthe
art facility on 32 acres. Originally
built in the early 1960s, the marina
was completely redesigned and now
offers 212 covered wet slips and an
additional 212 dry slips, with the ability
to accommodate yachts up to 100 feet.
Last year, the marina also welcomed
The Getaway, the second location for
this popular St. Pete restaurant offering
a hip, beachy vibe.
Look for more news about St. Pete’s
other emerging districts in future issues
of Burg Life.
Photo by Jerrod Douse
Nurse Practitioners of Pinellas, LLC is here to provide exceptional primary care, while
introducing medical education to our patients and community on how to live a better quality
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