A couple of diehard Lightning fans open a new agency right across the street from the team's home arena.
By MICHAEL CANNING
Published May 21, 2004
REALTORS SOLD ON BOLTS: Lisa Petras and Diana Burch have a cool office. It's across the street from the St. Pete Times Forum, home of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and just a short stroll from their seats, eight rows off the ice.
Inside the 1,200-square-foot office, they've got all kinds of Lightning decor - bobbleheads, posters and jerseys, including ones autographed by Martin St. Louis and Nikolai Khabibulin. "It's like our personal shrine to the Lightning," Petras said.
Oh, yeah, it's also a real estate agency. Blue Line Realty was scheduled to open this week at 400 Channelside Drive. It's likely the first real estate office geared toward the anticipated downtown residential boom.
Blue Line will handle real estate sales throughout Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, but downtown will be the focus, Petras said.
You could call the Blue Line owners visionaries. But when it comes down to it, "We're actually huge Lightning fans," said Petras, a New York native.
Fear not, Bolts fans. Petras assured, "I have abandoned the New York Rangers."
TAPAS ON TAP: Construction took longer than expected, but a new tapas restaurant in Channelside is set to open Tuesday.
Tinatapa's, the latest concept from Orlando-based Millennium Management Group, will seat 175 inside and 50 on two patios, Millennium co-owner Guy Revelle said. The menu will boast 40 hot and cold tapas, plus margaritas. An outdoor sangria bar will dispense red, white and champagne sangria.
The 6,000-square-foot restaurant, located across from Hooters, was designed to resemble a sidewalk cafe in Madrid or Barcelona, Revelle said.
Millennium, which owns restaurants in Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and Key West, has recently increased its Tampa profile. It also owns Splitsville, Stump's Supper Club and Howl at the Moon at Channelside.
Hooters co-founder Ed Droste is an owning partner in Millennium.
PANE PENDING: Originally scheduled for a March opening, the new location of Pane Rustica should open by the end of the month, co-owner Karyn Kruszewski says.
The popular South Tampa bakery-cafe that opened in 1999 has outgrown its storefront at 2821 S MacDill Ave. Karyn and her husband, Kevin Kruszewski, have been working on the interior of their new spot in the nearby Palma Ceia Village shopping center since December.
The restaurant has remained open, but Karyn said it will close for a few days during the move.
The new Pane Rustica will have double the space and will feature dinner menu items and an open kitchen concept similar to Fleming's and Carrabba's, Karyn said. Pane's popular rustic European breads, paninis, flatbread pizzas and Tuscany style farmhouse ambience will remain.
BURNED OUT? WHY NOT EXPAND? A March 12 fire at Decorators Warehouse of Tampa caused enough smoke damage to wipe out the store's entire stock.
The next obvious step?
How about expand nearly eightfold?
"I guess everything happens for a reason," general manager Isaac Marrujo said.
A power surge caused the fire in the 7,000-square-foot store at 3644 W Kennedy Blvd., he said. Now the business is relocating to a 55,000-square-foot building at 4340 W Hillsborough Ave., just west of Lois Avenue.
The store will boost its stock of bronzes, sculptures, architectural fragments, painted furniture, rugs, mirrors, art and lighting. It's scheduled to open by the end of this month.
Crews are renovating the Kennedy spot to lease again.
- Do you know something that should be everybody's business? Call 226-3394, or e-mail mikecanning@hotmail.com
