The Sundial retail area in downtown St Petersburg is about to undergo renovations designed to bring new life to the retail complex, according to the Tampa-based real estate investment firm Ally Capital Group, which is working with Paradise Ventures, a St. Petersburg-based firm. It will become a mixed-use space with work getting underway soon, with a completion date of the end of the year.

A grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation for the city of Tampa and Hillsborough County is directed at making roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists. $20 million of the $40 million dollar grant will go to Tampa for the T-SAFE: Tampa — Systemic Applications for Equity” program, and Hillsborough County will receive $19.7 million for the equitable transportation safety programs. The rest of this story in in the Tampa Bay Times.

The Florida State Fair opens next week and there will be a new admission policy for minors. Anyone under 17 must have a guardian or a minor with them after 6 pm, and that person must have a valid photo ID and be over the age of 21, and can be with up to four minors at the Fair. “Student Day” at the Fair that traditionally allows Hillsborough County students will have changes as well, and those will be announced soon.

During St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch’s State of the City Address Monday, he announced the city has chosen Hines and the Tampa Bay Rays as their partner for the development of the historic Gas Plant District, which includes Tropicana Field. The deal still has to go with St. Petersburg City Council for approval this fall. Sugar Hill Community Partners was the second choice for developer.

Volunteers from the Homeless Leadership Alliance of Pinellas County completed their count last Thursday, finding an increase in what might be regarded as the “new normal” for homeless residents who just can’t afford a place to call their own with rising rental and home prices. Hillsborough County will conduct their count February 23rd, and are in need of 650 volunteers. Please click here for more information.

Gasparilla is over, and now it’s time to clean up and many volunteers are cleaning up and dive teams are removing beads from the Bay where they are a threat to wildlife. If you have beads that you’d like to see recycled the locations are above, and the Florida Aquarium is offering an admission discount for every five gallon bucket of beads brought in. Ann Kelly spoke with Melissa Dude, Volunteer Program Manager at The Florida Aquarium about the deal for What’s Good in Tampa Bay which you can access here.

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