Spotlight On: Jason Mathis, President & CEO, St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership
July 2025 — In an interview with Invest:, Jason Mathis, president and CEO of St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership, stressed the importance of preserving St. Pete’s character amid rapid growth. “From an organizational perspective, we’re seeing St. Pete transition from a successful big town into a small city. That shift requires more thoughtful urban management,” he said.
What have been some of the biggest accomplishments for the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership this past year?
It’s been a real roller coaster of a year for our community. Back-to-back hurricanes hit us hard. Personally, my family has been living in just our bedroom and master bathroom since October because 80% of our house is uninhabitable. But through all that hardship, what really stood out was the resilience of our community: neighbors helping neighbors, and people stepping up to support one another.
From an organizational perspective, we’re seeing St. Pete transition from a successful big town into a small city. That shift requires more thoughtful urban management — things like ensuring downtown remains clean and safe and adapting to a larger, more diverse population. We’re experiencing record-breaking growth, with new people moving here, often remote workers choosing St. Pete’s lifestyle over larger metros. One key focus for us is retaining St. Pete’s authenticity. People are moving here for what makes this community special, and we want them to embrace those values rather than trying to remake the city into something it isn’t.
What major development projects are in the pipeline that will shape St. Pete’s economic future?
There are several significant projects. One of the largest is 400 Central, a massive mixed-use development led by Red Apple Group, whose principal, John Catsimatidis, has a personal connection to St. Pete through his family. He’s visited for years and, after deciding to invest here, made St. Pete his permanent home. It’s a great example of how this city doesn’t just attract capital — it attracts people. Kolter is completing its third residential project with the new Art House condo tower, continuing their deep investment in St. Pete. The Nolen, another luxury project, has been particularly interesting because almost all the buyers are already local. Many are moving from larger homes in neighborhoods like Snell Isle to embrace a downtown lifestyle. Each residence occupies an entire floor, and with prices starting around seven or eight million dollars, nearly every unit is sold, showing how much demand there is for luxury living in the heart of the city.
Perhaps the most talked-about new development is the Waldorf Astoria Residences, which Feldman Equities is developing with a Miami-based partner. The Waldorf brings something new to St. Pete: a branded luxury condominium that offers a level of prestige and design more reminiscent of Miami than our current skyline. Beyond real estate, we’ve seen a boom in the restaurant scene—six or seven new major restaurants opened just in the last two weeks. For example, The Vinoy is opening Elliot Astor, a new concept with a Michelin-starred chef from Chicago, slated for April. St. Pete’s dining and nightlife scene is rapidly becoming a major draw, rivaling cities many times our size.
What trends are you seeing in workforce development and talent attraction downtown?
A major challenge we’ve faced is high demand for office space but limited supply. Developers often prefer building condos because they can sell units immediately and recoup their investment quickly, whereas office projects require pre-leasing and significant upfront capital.
To address this, we’ve been working with developers to include office components within their mixed-use projects. For example, both 400 Central and the Waldorf Astoria Residences will include substantial office space. Despite national trends, St. Pete has maintained strong office occupancy, with only about a five percent vacancy rate. Companies continue to tell us they want to be here, but there’s simply not enough space to accommodate them. It’s a unique situation compared to other cities, and it speaks to a broader trend we’ve observed: companies are following talent rather than the other way around.
What’s driving St. Pete’s appeal as a hub for office demand?
It’s a shift in how companies think about location. It used to be that workers relocated to follow companies. Now, it’s the opposite: companies are relocating to where talent already is. This shift started before COVID and has accelerated since.
St. Pete’s appeal lies in its lifestyle: a walkable, arts-focused, coastal city that offers a high quality of life. That lifestyle has drawn a highly skilled, creative workforce, which is exactly the kind of people high-growth companies want to hire. So, companies are coming here because their employees want to be here. It’s a great example of how lifestyle can drive economic growth.
What efforts have been made recently to support startups and entrepreneurs?
One key initiative we’ve supported is the Innovation District Master Plan, which outlines how to develop the district’s physical environment to support tech and research companies.The district is anchored by major institutions like Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, which has a significant pediatric research component, and Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital. But beyond those anchors, there are about 60 acres of largely undeveloped waterfront land with incredible potential. Our role has been to help ensure that development in the district is guided by a long-term vision that supports innovation, through zoning, public spaces, and infrastructure. We believe that if we get the built environment right, it will naturally attract the kinds of companies and talent we want to see grow here.
What are your top priorities for the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership over the next two to three years?
We are a small organization, so we must be very intentional about where we focus our efforts. We’ve identified four major priorities that we believe will make the biggest impact on downtown’s future. The first is walkability. St. Pete was designed on a grid of small, pedestrian-friendly blocks, which is one of our greatest assets. We’re working to build on that strength with initiatives like pedestrian-only street closures and a new wayfinding system to make it easier for people to navigate the downtown on foot.
The second priority is keeping our city clean and safe. As St. Pete becomes more urban, we’re facing challenges that we’ve never had to address before — things like ensuring parks and sidewalks are clean and power-washed and addressing public safety concerns in a growing downtown. We’re also focused on supporting solutions for the unhoused population that are both compassionate and effective.
Livability and affordability are our third priority. The demand to live in downtown St. Pete has pushed housing costs up to the point where service workers and even young professionals are being priced out. We’re working to address this through policy changes that encourage workforce housing development. For example, we’re advocating for zoning changes along key corridors like the Pinellas Trail to allow for mid-rise residential buildings. The idea is to create affordable housing within biking distance of downtown, making it possible for people who work in our restaurants and shops — or those just starting their careers — to live near where they work. We see this as a critical piece of preserving the character and vibrancy of our downtown.
The fourth priority is coastal resiliency. The hurricanes this past year were a stark reminder of how vulnerable we are. We’re driving an effort to establish a Center for Coastal Resiliency within the Innovation District, a facility that would focus on research and solutions for rising sea levels, flooding, and hurricane impacts. Our vision is to make St. Pete not only more resilient but also a leader in developing solutions that other coastal cities can learn from.
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