ST. PETERSBURG — For years, downtown St. Petersburg’s only outdoor shopping center struggled to keep up with the fast-paced cultural changes that were transforming the city’s core.
BayWalk, as it was first called, couldn’t keep quality tenants. Shoppers didn’t always feel safe in the fortresslike space sandwiched between First and Second streets at Second Avenue N. Meanwhile, new chef-inspired restaurants, art galleries and hip, independent boutiques created pockets of creative spaces for a burgeoning nightlife and arts community elsewhere in the city.
When entrepreneur Bill Edwards bought the ailing retail property in 2011, he saw an opportunity to change that.