A new beer and wine bar taking shape at 554 1st Avenue North in downtown St. Petersburg is not just borrowing a New York theme — it is rebuilding an actual apartment where founder Nico Leeper once lived. Apt 34 takes its name and its blueprint from Leeper’s real former unit, Apartment 34 at 312 West 48th Street in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen, where he lived with roommates from 2015 to 2024 and hosted a rooftop scene so beloved it earned its own name.
That rooftop, known as the 312 Roof Club, hosted barbecues, piano concerts, political rallies, Derby Day parties, charity fundraisers, pool parties and wedding receptions over the years, according to St Pete Rising. Leeper and his friends outfitted the space with couches, chaise lounges, planters, trees, astroturf and a nine-by-ten-foot inflatable pool, plus a neon sign bearing the club’s name. At its peak, the group’s annual black-tie Christmas party drew 250 to 300 people, and friends eventually occupied 12 of the building’s 36 apartments.
Rebuilding an Apartment, Not a Bar
Leeper is bringing pieces of that original space to St. Petersburg, including the original 312 Roof Club neon sign and the actual door from his former bedroom, the outlet reports. The design team behind the buildout, per the same account, set out to design an apartment rather than a bar — the layout will include a lobby with a vintage apartment mailbox, a living room with couches and a mantle, a kitchen area with a bar resembling a kitchen island, and a private bedroom booth with a daybed.
The roof area will feature soaring ceilings, patio furniture, bistro lights and star-like lighting, echoing the rooftop gatherings that defined the original apartment. Notably absent will be a DJ booth, and the bar’s lone television will typically stay off — a deliberate choice, according to the report, to keep the focus on conversation rather than screens. Bartenders will also skip USB chargers at the bar, another nod to keeping the atmosphere social rather than plugged in.
A Career Detour That Led Back Home
Leeper, who grew up in Crescent Heights and attended Canterbury School and Columbia University in New York City, spent years in finance and startups before pivoting to hospitality. He worked at equity crowdfunding startup SeedInvest from 2014 until 2021 — a company that, according to entity background material from StartEngine, accepted fewer than 2% of startup applicants before StartEngine acquired it in May 2023. He later spent nearly two years bartending at a neighborhood bar and worked at Bar Chinchilla in December 2024, as well as at Try Wine and Tampa Bay Drinkery, before returning to St. Petersburg in 2024, per St Pete Rising’s reporting. Leeper was born at Bayfront, giving the homecoming an added personal thread…