Apt 34, a beer-and-wine bar built around the actual Hell's Kitchen apartment its founder occupied from 2015 to 2024, is planned to open at 554 1st Ave N in St. Pete by January, with a possible earlier opening in November. The concept is the work of Nico Leeper, who lived at 312 West 48th Street before relocating south and is bringing pieces of that apartment with him: the original neon sign from the building's rooftop club and his actual bedroom door are both headed to the new space.
The bar sits next door to St. Pete Brewing Company on 1st Avenue North. Leeper has organized the interior into residential zones drawn directly from the West 48th Street floor plan: a living room section, a kitchen island bar, and a bedroom booth. The bedroom door anchors the design — it is the same door from 312 West 48th Street, now installed at 554 1st Ave N.
The drinks program is deliberately focused: draft beer and wine, with bottles of sparkling available alongside the draft handles. The operator's Instagram describes the bar as suited to both beer and wine drinkers, keeping the list narrow rather than encyclopedic. The bar's own website reinforces the operating tone — it currently lists hours as “TBD, probably whenever we feel like it” — which signals a neighborhood bar running on its own terms rather than a high-cover operation.
The narrative anchor of the concept is the 312 Roof Club, the rooftop at Leeper's former West 48th Street address that hosted piano concerts, pool parties, and wedding receptions during his years there. Apt 34 carries that identity to St. Pete, with the original Roof Club neon making the move as a material link between the two addresses. The sign was made for a rooftop in Manhattan; it will hang in a ground-floor bar on 1st Avenue North.
