Walk up to 919 10th Avenue North on a Sunday morning and the parking lot is already full by nine. Coffee is being poured under the portico of a hundred-year-old brick church. Somebody is selling sourdough out of a folding table. A tray of cinnamon rolls, sold under the name Holy Buns, disappears within the first hour. None of this was supposed to happen here. For twenty years, this building was locked, moldering, and off-limits. Its current Sunday-market use followed a city council vote on a proposed event venue.
If that February 2025 vote had gone the other way, the building at the corner of 10th Avenue and 9th Street would be something else entirely: a 180-person event venue with a seven-unit bed and breakfast, booked by reservation, and staffed. The council rejected the appeal. Residents can now visit the building for free on many Sundays. The building's history helps put that change in context.
The Venue Proposal And What Followed
The church, built in 1926 as the Church of Christ and known to longtime residents as the Euclid Mansion, had been empty since 2005. It picked up a historic designation from the city in 2004, which meant it couldn't simply be torn down, but historic status doesn't come with a restoration budget. Noam and Irene Krasniansky bought it in August 2023 for $1.1 million, using proceeds from the sale of their Los Angeles home, and set out to turn it into a venue called The Treehouse: a 180-guest event space with seven overnight rooms.
To make the math work, they needed a special exception from the city for parking and assembly use. They lined up more than 100 off-site parking spaces through letters of intent with nearby businesses and arranged for a private shuttle service, Star Trolley, to move guests between those lots and the church. Neighbors who'd watched previous adaptive-reuse proposals for this exact building stall out over traffic and noise raised the same concerns again. The Community Planning and Preservation Commission rejected the plan in November 2024. The Krasnianskys appealed to city council in February 2025. Councilmember Lisset Hanewicz pointed out that the parking letters of intent weren't legally binding and could evaporate at any time. The council split 4-4, leaving the owners without approval for the venue plan.
After the vote, the project shifted to a smaller format: a registered nonprofit that could legally host informal gatherings and small functions without triggering the same zoning fight. They started with outdoor farmers markets in the parking lot, then moved indoors once electrical work allowed it, reopening the sanctuary to the public on July 27, 2025, for the first time since 2005.
What Actually Happens Inside Now
The building is now called the Treehouse Sanctuary, and on a given Sunday it functions as three things layered on top of each other: a farmers market, a counter-service café, and a spiritual gathering space open to any faith or none. The main hall, the same room that once held weekly services, now seats people drinking locally roasted coffee under stained glass. Vendors rotate through selling produce, honey, sourdough, jam, and handmade goods. One early market drew roughly 450 people; the Krasnianskys have said they expect around 44 vendors for a typical indoor date.
If you're planning a Sunday and want to see it for yourself, here's what to expect:
- Where: 919 10th Avenue North, inside the historic Euclid Methodist Church building
- When: Sundays, roughly 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., a schedule that's held through spring 2026
- Cost: free to attend, with vendor fees and donations funding the restoration
- What's there: rotating local vendors, a counter-service café serving coffee and Holy Buns cinnamon rolls, and open access to the main sanctuary hall
The vendor fees aren't incidental. According to the Krasnianskys, every dollar collected from a vendor at the market goes directly back into structural repairs. That's a different funding model than the original event-venue plan, which depended on wedding bookings and nightly room rates. The market model is slower and smaller, doesn't require a special exception from the city, and allows visitors to see restoration work during weekly markets.
The Restoration Math Hasn't Closed Yet
Roughly $300,000 has already gone into stabilizing the structure, and the Krasnianskys have said they need at least another $100,000 for immediate repairs, including a new roof and windows. The interior still carries damage from black mold and collapsed sections that predate their ownership, and Hurricanes Helene and Milton added new problems on top of the old ones. None of this money is coming from a bank loan or a developer's balance sheet. It's coming from Sunday vendor fees, café sales, and small-batch cinnamon rolls.
The Sunday market offers visitors access to the building while restoration continues. The church remains unfinished as its centennial approaches.
What's Coming Before Thanksgiving
The church opened its doors for the first time on Thanksgiving Day in 1926. The Krasnianskys have said they're aiming for a full grand reopening on the building's 100th birthday this year, meaning Thanksgiving Day 2026, a little under three months from now. The first wedding under the new nonprofit structure was held in September 2025, a quiet proof of concept that the space could host something beyond a farmers market without reopening the zoning fight. Whether the centennial celebration matches the scale the Krasnianskys originally imagined for The Treehouse remains to be seen, but the target date gives residents something concrete to watch for this fall.
That countdown overlaps with the neighborhood's own regular autumn rhythm. The Euclid St. Paul's Neighborhood Association runs its own calendar of gatherings throughout the year, including its Haunted Hike each October, a family-friendly event with food trucks, a bake sale, and local vendors along the neighborhood's brick streets. Between the association's own fall lineup and a hundred-year-old church racing to finish repairs before its own birthday, this is a season with two separate reasons to be out walking the neighborhood rather than driving past it.
The Building Is A Barometer, Not Just A Landmark
None of this changes what the historic homes on 13th and 14th Avenue look like or what Left Bank Bistro pours on a Friday night. The February 2025 council vote rejected a proposal for an event venue with shuttles and overnight guests. The owners later opened the building as a Sunday market and gathering space, where visitors can come for coffee. The sequence offers a glimpse of how preservation, zoning and public access can shape the future of a neighborhood landmark.
If you're weighing a move into Euclid St. Paul's, or you already live here and want a clearer read on how this neighborhood makes decisions about its own landmarks, Silver + Welch Collective knows this pocket of St. Petersburg block by block. Schedule a free consultation whenever you're ready to talk specifics.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
