In Pinellas, developers hitting the ground running

ST. PETERSBURG At old Kmarts and mobile home parks, on grassy fields near the edges of town and cracking asphalt parking lots, new apartments, corporate offices and shopping centers are on the rise.

An annual report released by Pinellas County's economic development department this week is full of big numbers: 8,400 condo and apartment units in planning and construction, 1,900 hotel rooms, companies such as General Electric and Tech Data investing tens of millions in new manufacturing and office space.

Niche retailers such as Trader Joe's and Whole Foods preparing to open their first Pinellas locations, and outmoded shopping plazas being reworked into destination shopping locales like downtown St. Petersburg's Sundial.

Construction spending nationally has reached its highest levels since 2008 this summer, with so much new work that many companies have been turning down projects.

Though it's unlikely that every chic waterfront condominium project actually will break ground, there's been a marked shift in the past couple years in the attitude of investors.

They appear particularly confident in the kind of urban multifamily redevelopment that seems to be cropping up on every other block in downtown St. Petersburg, said Mike Meidel, director of Pinellas County Economic Development.

We definitely have the mood among investors and, to some extent, the general public that we are coming out finally from this Great Recession, he said.

It's been a hard go for a lot of people. I think now, finally, people are beginning to invest.

Those investments are happening, to a greater or lesser extent, in nearly every category of construction.

BayCare Health System is spending $99 million on a 300,000-square-foot headquarters in Clearwater, and GE Energy Management is sinking $50 million to add 190,000 square feet to its manufacturing center, where it plans to add 250 jobs.

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In Pinellas, developers hitting the ground running