BankUnited announced on May 19 that it will open a new branch at 900 Central Avenue, occupying space in the EDGE District’s oldest building in downtown St. Petersburg.
The move marks BankUnited’s first branch in St. Petersburg and comes as part of the bank’s broader regional growth strategy. The location is notable for its historic significance, as the three-story brick structure was built in 1918 and has housed various businesses over more than a century.
The new branch will take up 2,700 square feet on the first floor of a building most recently occupied by Anytime Fitness, which closed in late 2022. While redevelopment plans for a high-rise mixed-use project were previously considered by Silver Sands LLC and later revised by Dinerstein Companies, those efforts did not come to fruition and the property has since attracted several new tenants including Velvet Coupe wine bar, Bouquet and Bordeaux floral concept, Central Express Vet, Local Studio fitness center, Peach Pump boutique, and Burg Nutrition.
Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Miami Lakes, BankUnited is one of Florida’s largest independent depository institutions with more than $35 billion in assets. The bank operates about 60 branches primarily across Florida but also maintains locations in New York, Dallas, Atlanta, Morristown (New Jersey), and Charlotte (North Carolina). In Tampa Bay area markets prior to this announcement BankUnited had offices only in Clearwater, Sarasota, and Tampa.
“The Tampa region is a significant growth area across multiple business segments,” BankUnited Chief Operating Officer Thomas Cornish said last year when announcing another regional expansion. “This move builds on our recent announcements of new corporate banking offices in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Morristown, New Jersey, and adds to the momentum of our growth in regions including Atlanta and Dallas.”
St. Pete Rising functions as an independent news publication covering urban development throughout St. Petersburg with a focus on downtown progress; it offers news articles along with an events calendar and development map to inform residents about local growth initiatives according to the official website.
