Pop-up market in EDGE District set to launch Super Bowl weekend

The future site of The EDGE Collective, a planned mixed-use development St. Petersburg’s EDGE District, will temporarily become a pop-up market for local retailers and restaurateurs.

Two south Florida companies, 305 Hospitality Group and Urban Marketplace Development, are collaborating on the open-air market, which will feature vendors working out of sustainable shipping containers.

The EDGE Collective Urban Market Place, at 1246 Central Ave., is scheduled to launch on Super Bowl weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 5-7, said Robert Rivera, managing partner at 305 Hospitality. He has just put out a call for local vendors; those who are interested can email info@305hospitality.com

PTM Partners, a Miami-based real estate and development firm that owns the property, is planning a 161-room Marriott Moxy hotel on the site, which is currently a parking lot, as well as a food hall and co-working office at an existing building just west of the parking lot. PTM is currently working on the pre-development and design for the EDGE Collective and remains very excited about the project, a spokesman for the company said, although he did not disclose a specific timeframe for the development.

PTM also is being very mindful of how things need to change in a post-Covid-19 world.

“Considering how people will live, work and interact in a post-Covid-19 world is a critical component for a project like the EDGE Collective, as it is focused on neighborhood inclusion. Such considerations include layouts and programming of common areas and materials used for heavily utilized areas, i.e. hand railings and doorknobs,” the PTM spokesman said.

Rivera said he discussed the open-air market with PTM Partners, and they loved the plan.

“The EDGE Collective pop-up market concept will bring something new and innovative to the district, furthering the growth of the area by affording local start-up restaurateurs, retailers and others to have an outlet for their wares at an affordable and approachable price point,” the PTM spokesman said. “We are working with several local and minority-owned groups to truly exhibit the full character of this amazing city and demonstrate PTM’s commitment to inclusionary development.”

305 Hospitality previously opened a similar pop-up market in the Miami neighborhood of Wynwood. It shut down when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. The landowner later sold the property, Rivera said.

Closer look: Containers versus food trucks

“A food truck is not self-contained. It normally has to go back to a commissary. A container is self-contained with a refrigerator and water; everything is handled internally through the actual container. It’s like a physical business. Containers are mobile because they can be picked up and moved, but it’s not something you are going to pick up and move every day. They’re more to be put on a temporary basis for a limited length of time, versus a food truck that just comes and leaves.” —Robert Rivera, 305 Hospitality

The pop-up market in the EDGE District is being planned in two phases, according to a news release on the EDGE Business District Association website.

Phase One, opening in time for the Super Bowl weekend, will include two 40-foot cargo containers, each with food and beverage concepts and with courtyard seating, a canopy and a jumbotron to watch the game. Rivera said he has submitted a Covid-19 safety plan to the city.

Phase Two is expected to launch in late April, expanding to include additional containers for food and beverages, as well as smaller containers for retailers.

“The idea is to have these stores for individuals, artists, entrepreneurs that normally could not afford to be in rented space that’s more expensive. This could be a place for them to incubate and grow out of there into a bigger business,” Rivera said. “The good thing about the containers is once the developer decided to build, they are easily picked up and moved somewhere else.”

Once PTM decides to begin work, he said he will relocate the pop-up market, but his long-term goal is to have the marketplace in St. Petersburg for years.

“St. Pete, and the EDGE District, have an amazing community of artists and entrepreneurs. It’s a young vibrant town with a lot to offer,” Rivera said. “I love St. Pete so much I just became a resident.”

Here’s the schedule for the launch weekend:

Friday, Feb. 5, 3 p.m.-close

Welcome party with happy hour, live band and community meet & greet

Saturday, Feb. 6 11:30 a.m.-close

Local vendors, farmers market, live bands
Saturday night party hosted by Katie Sommers of 93.3 FLZ I Heart Radio

Sunday, Feb. 7 11:30 a.m.-close

Big Game Day celebration with local vendors
Sunday brunch featuring live music by Afro Beats
Free game day watch party hosted by former Green Bay Packers star Samuel Barrington and Mychal Maguire, 95.7 the Beat I Heart Radio