ST. PETERSBURG - A developer plans a building with 16 luxury condominium units that will sit next to the Isla Del Sol Yacht and Country Club.
Raxit N. Shah of the Liberty Group will tear down the two buildings at 6025 Sun Blvd. and build a six-story structure where units will have views of Boca Ciega Bay. It will be called Paradiso. The buildings to be torn down were rental offices for the Casa I and II developments nearby, Shah said.
Prices will range from $809,000 to $1.35-million. Regular units will be about 2,200 square feet in size while the penthouses will have 3,300 feet of space.
Shah said construction on the $9-million project should begin by June, with the building completed by July of 2005.
Liberty is a 27-year-old family development business that moved to Florida from Michigan and Ohio.
Melco slates completion of building
PINELLAS PARK - Melco, a packaging manufacturer and distributor, expects to be in its new building at 13200 40th St. N by mid summer.
Construction began on the 65,000-square-foot building last fall, said Jeanne Abbo, who has owned the company with her husband, Arthur, since 1988. It has been in operation in Pinellas County since 1966.
Melco makes corrugated boxes and distributes packing supplies. It has 49 workers.
Melco now is in four buildings, Abbo said. With the new one, it will consolidate to two. It will keep its location at 3939 Airway Circle and use it as the manufacturing plant. Distribution will move to the new building, which is just across 40th Street.
The new building is a $3-million project, Abbo said.
North East Cycles to make move
ST. PETERSBURG - North East Cycles is moving from its location of 12 years on Fourth Street N closer to downtown.
The new location is 1062 Fourth St. N, near the 4th Street Shrimp Store and next to the Brass Key antique store. Owner Ken Fong hopes to be set up at the new place by March 31. He said he will have about 1,000 square feet more of space. As a result, he plans to consolidate his shop inventory from the old location with what is in storage in his warehouse in Gulfport.
Fong is leaving his longtime location at 2907 Fourth St. N because new owners prefer to put offices in the space, he said.
Fong will move the 250 cycles to the new location by truck. He plans to rent a U-Haul for the cycles, fixtures, showcases, accessories and clothes, desks and a workbench. The 85 cycles in the warehouse in Gulfport are in boxes.
Fong said he is excited about the new location because it is closer to downtown and in an area of Fourth Street where a lot of building and renovation is going on.
Entrepreneurs' workshop at jazz club
ST. PETERSBURG - A workshop to aid entrepreneurs in starting businesses is being hosted by the St. Petersburg Area Black Chamber of Commerce on March 31.
Titled "Are You Ready to Do Business in the Real World?" this workshop is one of four to be held this year, according to the chamber.
Topics include incorporation, financing and tax issues. Representatives from the city, Pinellas County, the Small Business Administration and SCORE, the retired executive advisers, will be on hand for the workshop that will run from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Hampton House of Jazz, 1113 Central Ave.
For more information, call the chamber at (727) 822-1203.
Job fair scheduled at Ruth Eckerd Hall
CLEARWATER - WorkNet Pinellas will sponsor a job fair March 31 that will feature more than 30 local companies talking about job opportunities.
Among the professions represented are those at Bayfront Medical Center, Raymond James Financial, Tech Data, University of South Florida, Pinellas County Schools, Market Street Mortgage, Custom Manufacturing and Engineering and the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.
Garry Burlingame, business services manager with WorkNet Pinellas, said the office hoped to make the fair of "highly skilled occupations" an annual event.
The job fair runs from noon to 4 p.m. at Ruth Eckerd Hall. It is free and open to the public. For more information, call (727) 791-5828.
