"We have not observed any indication that vacant spaces are remaining unleased for extended periods." Wesley Wright, Seminole's Community Development Director, wrote that in August when Tampa Bay Beacons asked how the city views the tenant turnover at Seminole City Center.
His point holds up when you look at the three restaurant spaces that have changed hands this year. Each one went straight from one tenant to the next, with no long dark period between them. Because of that, every change at the center appears first as a permit at City Hall and only later as a sign on the glass. In early October 2026 those two records disagree, and the permit file is the better guide to what comes next.
Three Spaces, Three Handoffs
The center covers 37 acres on the site of the former Seminole Mall. North American Development Group and Primerica Group One began redeveloping it in 2016 into a 424,000-square-foot open-air shopping center. The tenant mix that came out of that work is now going through its first big round of replacements. Here is how the three restaurant changes line up:
- Sugar Wing to Beach Pizza, 7724 113th Street North. Sugar Wing opened in April 2024 as the New York chicken chain's first Florida restaurant, and it has since closed. Sugar Wing's reported address was 7724 113th Street North. Beach Pizza has since been reported at the same address, and the center's own listing now shows Beach Pizza as open. Local reporting confirmed Beach Pizza was open by August 5. It did not give an exact opening day.
- Pieology to Shake Shack, 11165 Park Boulevard. This is the multitenant building on the center's Park Boulevard side that also houses CAVA and a Verizon store. Wright said Shake Shack will take the space Pieology Pizzeria used to hold.
- Maple Street Biscuit Co. to Pepe's Cantina, 7756 113th Street North, Suite E. Pepe's, a Mexican restaurant, was announced in April for the former Maple Street Biscuit Co. space.
All three new tenants moved into existing spaces, and two of the three are still opening. That is why the center's directory currently shows a mix of open restaurants and "Coming Soon" pages.
The Shake Shack Permit Came Before the Sign
The city issued a building permit on June 15 for interior demolition and alteration work at 11165 Park Blvd., and the permit description names Shake Shack. Wright said the city had been working with the applicant "since early June 2026."
The permit file also shows something you can't see from the parking lot. The plans call for moving the interior wall next to Verizon so Shake Shack gets more room, and Verizon is staying. The demolition and the interior alterations are covered by the same permit, and that permit has been issued. So the building on Park Boulevard is being reworked from the inside, and Shake Shack's space is growing slightly into what used to be part of the Verizon side.
The location would be Shake Shack's first in Pinellas County. Right now the closest ones are in Midtown Tampa, at International Plaza, and in Wesley Chapel, where the Tampa Bay area's first Shake Shack drive-thru opened in 2024. For someone living off Park Boulevard, a burger that has meant a trip across the bay will be a short drive away.
The opening date is still unknown. The August reporting said no opening date had been announced. The center's Shake Shack page still says "Coming Soon." A restaurant-industry tracker that follows construction permits lists the Seminole location as "projected fall 2026." That is a third-party estimate, not a date from Shake Shack or the center.
Why the space opened up helps explain the timing. Pieology's parent company, Little Brown Box Pizza LLC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December 2025. The chain had about 200 locations in 2020 and was down to 45 when it filed. Wright told the Beacons the city has no record of the exact date the Seminole Pieology closed. Even so, the next tenant's permit was issued within about six months of the parent company's filing. That fits Wright's point about vacancies.
Pepe's Cantina Is Still in Permit Review
Pepe's is a step behind Shake Shack. The original announcement, reported by St. Pete Rising, said the restaurant expected to open in July. That month has passed. By early August the city said Pepe's had submitted a building permit application that was still under review. No later report has said the permit was approved or given a new opening date. Both Pepe's own Seminole page and the center directory still say "Coming Soon."
Taken together, the two upcoming restaurants show the order things happen in. Shake Shack has an issued permit and no date. Pepe's has a permit application under review and no date. At this center the permit comes first, then construction, and an opening date is the last piece of public information to appear.
The directory also shows Bath & Body Works and M. Vincé Nail Spa as "Now Open." It gives no opening dates, though, so there is no way to tell from it whether either one is new since summer.
The Intersection Outside Has Its Own Permit Schedule
While the center fills its spaces, Pinellas County is rebuilding the corner of Park and Seminole boulevards next to it. The project replaces the old span-wire traffic signals with heavy-duty steel mast arms, improves pedestrian safety, and updates the drainage. The work covers the whole intersection. It removes the concrete corner islands to make room for the mast arms and new crosswalks.
The Beacons reported that much of the local concern has focused on the busy right-turn lane, especially near businesses like Starbucks. County officials say the main traffic lanes will stay. The noticeable change is to the turns. Right turns that used to swing through a slip lane around a corner island will become signal-controlled turns at the new crosswalks.
The county's target completion date is November 20. Officials call that date tentative, and they pointed out it falls 10 days before hurricane season officially ends. There is one more step before then. Final paving and placing the crane will require temporary overnight lane closures, and in August the exact dates were still waiting on the contractor's schedule. No closure dates have been published since. The county's roadway advisories page points to its live map for current closures. That map is the place to check before driving through the corner late at night in November.
So the restaurant openings and the road project are on the same kind of timeline. Each has an issued permit and a target date, and the specific dates arrive late. If Shake Shack's projected fall opening and the county's November 20 target both hold, the new restaurant on Park Boulevard and the rebuilt corner beside it would finish at about the same time.
The Dated Events Are the City's
The firm dates in Seminole this month come from the city, not the tenants. Several of them are on 113th Street North, the same road as Beach Pizza and Pepe's:
- All-Ages Mini Pumpkin Painting, October 5, 6 to 7 p.m., at the Seminole library, 9200 113th Street.
- Rec After Dark: Halloween Spooktacular, October 16, 7 to 11 p.m., at Seminole Recreation Center for students in grades 6 through 9. Preregistration is required.
- Field of Screams, October 30, 6 to 9 p.m., at Seminole Recreation Center, 9100 113th St. N. It includes a trick-or-treat street, contests, and food vendors, with a $7 activity band.
Two other new places nearby have firmer details than the center's "Coming Soon" pages. September Sewing Co. opened at 11000 70th Avenue N. with a grand opening on September 26. Regular shop hours began September 30, and registration is open for October classes. To the south, Christian's on the Water at Bay Pines Marina, 4999 Harbor Lights Drive, soft-opened in May. Its website now advertises coastal food, reservations, and boat docking.
For anyone heading to Lake Seminole Park this fall, Pinellas County raised the annual boat-parking pass to $140 from $110 starting October 1. A $12 daily boat-ramp parking rate begins December 1.
On the Seminole Boulevard side, a proposal would put a Dutch Bros Coffee drive-through and a new PNC Bank at 7405 Seminole Blvd. After a June 23 council workshop, the city manager was authorized to negotiate an agreement. Mike Connor, CEO of the developer Paradise Ventures, said construction could start in the second quarter of 2027, pending final city approvals. That project is at an earlier stage than either restaurant at City Center. It is a proposal still being negotiated, with no permit yet.
The changes coming to Park and Seminole boulevards first show up as permits and negotiations, well before a new tenant opens or a sign changes. KVA Group watches these filings across Pinellas County because the same records affect commercial frontage and nearby property values long before anything opens. If you own property near Seminole City Center and want to know how a pending tenant or road project affects it, Request a Confidential Consultation.
