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SEMINOLE - The vacant Columbia University General Hospital has been demolished, and work begins soon on the Seminole Oaks shopping center, which will be anchored by a Kash n' Karry.
The center is scheduled to open in July or August. Work on the site should be under way by the first of December. Vertical construction will start in January.
Commercial Net Lease Realty of Orlando bought the property at 10200 Seminole Blvd. last year. Officials said then the finished product will represent an $8-million investment. In addition to the grocery store, there will be space for a dozen or so small shops.
Matt Williams of Commercial Net said there will be a Kash n' Karry liquor store on one of the parcels. He doesn't yet have signed leases on the other shops but is talking to restaurants and small businesses.
Columbia University General Hospital closed in 1997 after 22 years in business.
Boat supply store to open near BayWalkST. PETERSBURG - Downtown is getting a new type of West Marine store, a smaller version of the boat supply retailer, which is a national chain and has several outlets in Pinellas County.
West Marine Express will be close to BayWalk on First Avenue N in the block of shops under the Mid Core Garage near Starbucks and the Atlanta Bread Co. It will open in mid November, manager Jack Brown said. Another West Marine Express opened in Madeira Beach about six weeks ago.
Brown said the downtown location is perfect for the retailer's new concept, because it is only blocks away from the waterfront, where there are several marinas and the St. Petersburg Yacht Club. The new concept is aimed at the boater in the middle of a project who needs another can of paint or piece of equipment and doesn't want to have to drive miles to get it.
West Marine Express also will carry fishing supplies and frozen bait. It will not carry the clothing items and larger pieces of equipment found in its other Pinellas stores.
BayLife Rehab moves to bigger officeST. PETERSBURG - BayLife Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation is in new quarters at 8950 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. N. This is the third home for the outpatient physical therapy business that was started in 1997. Floyd Morgan is the owner.
Greg Thomson, director of operations for BayLife, said the new location has 8,100 square feet. The former location on Fourth Street N had less than half that space.
BayLife has added two new programs since the move. One involves education for parents and children on childhood obesity. The second is designed to help golfers improve their games with strengthening and body mechanics.