How a Couple's Vision is Transforming a Historic Neighborhood with Tech, Gardens, and Community Power

Ambitious plans to revitalize an underserved corridor in South St. Petersburg’s MLK Business District are already moving forward with an expanded mission and new partners.

Local developer John Barkett and his wife, Julie, have rebranded a community garden, secured multiple tenants and will now open a Tech & Innovation Hub sponsored by ARK Invest. They also formed a Community Focus Group of South St. Pete residents to help guide the extensive adaptive reuse project, unveiled in late August.

The Looking Glass Initiative encompasses several long-neglected properties along the 900 and 1000 blocks of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street South. The husband-and-wife duo, who are self-funding initial redevelopment work, said discussions with two local hospitals to bring healthcare and education into the neighborhood are “well underway.”

“This needs to be a permanent solution,” Julie Barkett told the Catalyst. “And in order for it to be so, it needs to be designed by the community, for the community. We’re just a conduit.”

The non-displacing initiative’s overarching goal is to create a thriving, inclusive and self-sustaining destination that reflects the neighborhood’s identity, needs and culture. Barkett, co-founder of The Looking Glass, will also serve as CEO of the new Healthy Roots Garden & Community Center.

She rebranded the previously announced Wonderland Garden concept to embody a holistic approach to addressing the root causes of community health and economic disparities. Healthy Roots Garden & Community Center will now feature:

• A “Food Farmacy” and grocery stand offering fresh, affordable produce and food.
• A Home Garden Network, supported by a master gardener and peer mentors, that equips families to grow food at home.
• A Tech & Innovation Hub to bolster STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) exposure, digital literacy and workforce readiness resources.
• A community center with a teaching kitchen, movement space, clinical exam rooms and health education.

“When we started this, we kind of heard of this as a grocery store problem in South St. Pete and its food desert,” Barkett explained. “But as I started looking into that, I realized it was a lot deeper than just a grocery store problem.”

She said their plan seemed wrong a decade after the couple first eyed the dilapidated strip mall. Barkett also noted that “there’s a lot of really smart people in this city” who have struggled to address the area’s persistent health and nutrition inequities.

“It’s broken systems,” she added. “I realized it’s time for a change. It’s time to change the broken systems.”

The Barketts believe that pairing economic revitalization with food access, preventive health and resident-informed development will create a comprehensive wellness and wealth-generating ecosystem. “Money is circulating within the community, resources are circulating within the community and food comes from the community itself,” Julie said.

Barkett noted that technology and innovation hubs typically exist in more affluent areas, and ARK Invest is one of the most prominent names in those industries. “Why shouldn’t we also see it here?” she said.

The Community Focus Group is “probably the most important thing that we’re doing,” Barkett said. Participants will use their lived experiences to set program priorities, identify barriers and help establish what constitutes success.

“If we’re looking at systems change, paradigms change, it’s not going to come from an outside source,” Barkett elaborated. “I can assume I know what the community needs, but that’s probably not going to be the right thing.

“Will it help? Will it serve today’s needs? Most likely, yes. But is it going to serve long-term change? Probably not.”

The redevelopment’s commercial spaces are for local and Black-owned small businesses, including Sober Roots Hair Products & Salon. Additional confirmed tenants include CodeWiz, which offers STEM education for children, and a neighborhood bookstore.

A planned community coffee shop will serve as a welcoming “third place” for conversation, connection and creativity. Several spaces remain available to lease.

“John and I understand that we’ve invested in a historically Black neighborhood, and the responsibility that comes with that,” Julie said of their desire to promote African American entrepreneurship and generational wealth.

Property improvements include a large shaded outdoor meeting area, “period-specific facade restoration,” landscaping, expanded parking, bike racks and a shared courtyard for gathering, murals and community events.

The Looking Glass Initiative also hopes to enhance micromobility and neighborhood connectivity along the MLK corridor by introducing e-bike and scooter access, advocating for a new push-button crosswalk and collaborating with the South St. Pete Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) to improve sidewalks and street lighting.

The Barketts hope to establish a successful model that they can recreate in other areas once the community self-sustains the initiative. While they have applied for CRA funding, the couple hopes community foundations and partners will also help support The Looking Glass Initiative.

“I’m going to ensure that this is followed through to the best of our abilities,” Julie pledged. “And I really want the community center to feel like hope for the future. That the future has arrived, and it’s theirs.”