Developers finally got their permit from Pinellas County last week for Boca Ciega Resort & Marina, a $15-million condominium-hotel complex that will be built at 8800 Bay Pines Blvd.
Plans for the project were announced two years ago, but designs had to be changed and took months to move through the approval process, according to Ed Jackson. He has been involved in several development projects in Pinellas County and does marketing for Pinnacle Construction of Fort Lauderdale, which is developing the resort.
The property, which is in unincorporated Pinellas, sits on Boca Ciega Bay. It should be a construction zone soon, with the project finished in about 11 months.
Boca Ciega Resort will include 76 units, of which 64 will be one-bedrooms. Eight will be two-bedroom units and four, studio apartments. Prices for the Key West-style development range from $200,000 to $260,000 per unit, said Jackson, adding that about 85 percent of the units are spoken for.
Condo-hotel resorts prohibit owners from living there year-round. In their absence, the units are rented out like hotel rooms.
New face on Housing Authority
ST. PETERSBURG - Angela H. Rouson has been appointed to the Pinellas County Housing Authority by Gov. Jeb Bush. Rouson, 37, is a marketing coordinator with Bayfront Medical Center and will serve on the housing authority until Nov. 29, 2007.
Rouson is the wife of Darryl E. Rouson, community activist and head of the St. Petersburg branch of the NAACP. Both are involved in Urban Development Solutions Inc., the company building the shopping center in Midtown that will be anchored by a Kash n' Karry grocery.
Fanny May's days are numbered
ST. PETERSBURG - The Fanny May Candy Shop in the Tyrone area will close the first week of February.
The closing is the result of a shutdown of all Fanny May stores, which was announced last week. A Fanny May spokeswoman in Chicago said the St. Petersburg store, at 6848 22nd Ave. N, would stay open as long as it has stock.
Parent company Archibald Candy Co. is selling its brands, including Fanny May, to Alpine Confections Inc. of Utah, which may reopen some of the stores.
Fanny May is known for its mint meltaways, almond bark and trinidads, which are chocolate centers in toasted coconut shells.
