Developer scales back Tierra Verde Marina expansion plans following public criticism

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A developer has unveiled a scaled-back vision for the Tierra Verde Marina after a previous proposal met stiff resistance from neighbors last fall.

What we know:

Greenleaf Capital withdrew its initial plans in late 2025 following public criticism regarding building heights and traffic congestion. The new proposal reflects a roughly 30% reduction in the project's scope, according to former St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, who is also the executive vice president of Shumaker Advisors that’s retained to work with Greenleaf.

"When they [the community] look at the plan, it should be very obvious that some of the concerns that were raised were heard," Kriseman said. "Between the height and the distance that's been created, you know, they were heard, and you know their concerns were taken into consideration pretty substantially here."

Kriseman said they plan to build the new dry-rack buildings closer to the bridge, away from homes. 

By the numbers:

The updated plan shifts from a two-phase development to a single-phase project. Instead of the originally proposed four dry-rack buildings, the developer now seeks to build only two. These additions would bring the marina's total capacity to 500 dry spaces compared to the 711 previously proposed.

Building heights have also been adjusted. The developer reduced the proposed height from 90 feet to 72 feet. The existing boat barn, which stands at roughly 50 feet right now, will be retained.

"It’s a roughly 40-plus-year-old marina. It needs some TLC, and it's also about addressing the real need that exists for more dry storage. I mean, Pinellas County has the second-largest number of boat registrations in the state of Florida," Kriseman said. 

What they're saying:

David Gendron, who lives nearby, agrees the marina needs a facelift, but wants the size to stay the same.

"There's enough boat slips here already for the folks on the island," Gendron said. "So, it's [the proposal] going to be outside traffic coming here."

Developers will tear down the existing shopping strip and gas station right next to the marina. Gendron said he would rather see the strip mall stay and get a facelift, and not expand the marina.

"It would service the community more than what they're planning on building there," he said.

Dig deeper:

Kriseman said there is projected to be a 37% drop in daily trips when it comes to traffic, according to the Institute of Transportation Engineers Manual. 

"As it relates to transportation, national guidelines were used to calculate the numbers, and I don't know that any of us internally were surprised to see them. I mean, when you think about it, you're going from retail, which is very foot traffic heavy, to a marina, which is not foot traffic-heavy. And so, there's a pretty substantial reduction in the traffic impacts by changing the uses to the degree that are, you know, going from a large amount of retail to still some retail, but not nearly as intensive and as much," Kriseman said.

The new plans also include a new marina office, Harbor House, which would be a three-story amenity pavilion, 1,250 square feet of retail space, upgrades to marina fueling facilities and public dining and bar areas. The dining and bar space includes a 2,581-square-foot restaurant with outdoor balcony seating on the second floor, and a 2,465-square-foot bar on the third floor.

The proposal also includes a pool in the Harbor House for boat storage members, and construction of new storm water systems that will reflect a 70% increase in the stormwater dry retention capacity on the property. There aren’t any new wet slips in the proposal. Existing slips that have storm damage will be fixed.

Local perspective:

Other community members also remain skeptical. The group Tierra Verde Next, one of the groups against the initial proposal, said its members want to thoroughly look at the new proposal and then will give a statement. 

"Are we going to convince everyone? No," Kriseman acknowledged. "This is something different. It’s change, and sometimes people struggle with it."

When asked if the developer will try to expand even further sometime in the future, Kriseman said this:

"I can't say that that's never going to happen. I can’t say it is going to happen. I mean, certainly the way it's being designed, I don't know that it anticipates, I don't think it does, the second phase. Otherwise, they'd call it out, and they'd say, ‘yeah, we're going to do phase …’ because this is what happened in the first go around. There were two phases. What they were very clear about, the owners, was to say, ‘we are doing phase one. If it makes sense to do phase two, we'll do phase two, but we're going to go ahead and apply for it now in case we decide we want to so we don't have to go through the whole process again.’ There's really no reason that they would do it differently if that was the intent."

The cost of the project is estimated at $19 million compared to the previous price tag of $32.7 million.

What's next:

The developer met with community groups prior to withdrawing the initial plans and intends to hold further meetings to discuss the revisions. The proposal is scheduled to go before the St. Petersburg Development Review Commission on May 6.

If the commission grants approval, permitting would take six to nine months, and construction would take 18-24 months.