St. Pete tower adds wine bar
The tallest residential building in St. Petersburg is installing an upscale wine bar/market at street level, the first announced retail tenant for the project. (x.com)
St. Petersburg’s tallest residential tower has landed its first street-level retail tenant: Volta Wine + Market at 400 Central. (businessobserverfl.com) Volta is slated to open this summer on the ground floor of the Residences at 400 Central in downtown St. Petersburg. The shop will combine a wine bar, bottle shop and specialty grocery market in about 2,000 square feet. (businessobserverfl.com; stpetecatalyst.com) The project’s developers and city officials marked the tenant buildout with a groundbreaking on April 15, 2026. Mayor Ken Welch joined founders Zach Pace and Rachelle Tomushev for the event. (stpetecatalyst.com; snntv.com) 400 Central is a 515-foot, 46-story mixed-use tower with 301 condominiums, 45,000 square feet of office space and 60,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. The building spans a full downtown block on Central Avenue. (residences400central.com) That makes the lease more than a small storefront deal. It is the first public sign of how the tower’s large retail base will start filling in as residents move into the building and businesses take office space upstairs. (residences400central.com; stpetecatalyst.com) The condo project has been under construction since 2022, and Red Apple Group received a temporary certificate of occupancy for the first 25 floors in late 2025. St. Pete Catalyst reported the development cost at more than $400 million. (stpetecatalyst.com) Pace, a sommelier, has more than 20 years in the wine business, and Tomushev is his business partner in Volta. The pair signed their lease with Red Apple in summer 2025 after what local coverage described as a year-long search for a downtown site. (stpetecatalyst.com; stpeterising.com) Volta plans to stock bottles priced from $15 to $1,500, alongside prepared foods and pantry items such as artisanal pasta, sauces and preserves. Pace said the design will draw on Mediterranean and Art Deco influences, with products sourced from St. Petersburg, elsewhere in Florida and the Southeast. (snntv.com; stpetecatalyst.com) Other named tenants in the broader project include PNC Bank, Michael Saunders & Company and Dynasty Financial Partners. As 400 Central shifts from construction site to occupied tower, Volta is set to be one of the first businesses people see from the sidewalk. (stpetecatalyst.com; residences400central.com)
