Bill Edwards, businessman who helped reshape downtown St. Pete, dies at 81

Prominent St. Petersburg businessman Bill Edwards, whose influence stretched across the city’s real estate, sports, entertainment and arts communities, died Thursday morning after a brief illness. He was 81.

“Today, we mourn the passing of Bill Edwards,” St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch wrote in a Facebook post Thursday. “Bill was a true leader whose impact on our community cannot be overstated. He dedicated his life's work to uplifting St. Petersburg and the Tampa Bay Region — from his investment in youth to his support of the arts and his love of sports — he embodied the welcoming, vibrant spirit of St. Pete.”

A Vietnam War veteran and Purple Heart recipient, Edwards made his fortune in the mortgage industry before pouring millions of dollars into projects that helped reshape downtown St. Petersburg. At various points, he controlled one of the city’s most prominent shopping centers, its professional soccer team and its waterfront performing arts venue.

His investments were often bold, deeply personal and closely tied to the city he called home for decades.

“Very sad to hear of the passing of Bill Edwards,” State Rep. Lindsay Cross, D-St. Petersburg, wrote on X. “His mark on St. Pete, including support for Mahaffey Theater, the Tampa Bay Rowdies, arts education, school teachers and children will be felt for decades to come.”

Edwards, whose birth name was Edward Francis Sylvia, was the founder and chief executive of Mortgage Investors Corp., a St. Petersburg-based company that specialized in refinancing home loans for military veterans. The business grew into one of the nation’s largest lenders focused on loans backed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

That success allowed Edwards to build a wide-ranging local business portfolio through the Edwards Group and Big3 Entertainment.

In 2011, Edwards bought the struggling BayWalk shopping complex out of foreclosure. He renamed it Sundial St. Pete and spent tens of millions of dollars renovating the downtown property, seeking to revive a retail center that had long fallen short of expectations.

The redeveloped complex reopened in 2014 with new restaurants, shops and a towering outdoor sundial. Edwards sold his interest in the property for $27.5 million in 2022 as he began scaling back some of his commercial holdings.

His imprint could also be seen along Interstate 275, where he paid for signs welcoming motorists to St. Petersburg.

When the Republican National Convention came to Tampa in 2012, Edwards donated millions of dollars and helped raise additional money for the event’s host committee. The convention brought national attention to the broader Tampa Bay region and became another opportunity for Edwards to promote St. Petersburg.

He expanded his reach into professional sports in 2013, when he bought the Tampa Bay Rowdies. Under his ownership, the soccer club played at downtown’s Al Lang Stadium, where improvements helped turn the aging waterfront ballpark into a soccer-focused venue.

Edwards sold a controlling interest in the Rowdies to the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018. The team was later included in the Rays’ $1.7 billion sale to a group led by Jacksonville developer Patrick Zalupski in 2025.

Perhaps no institution reflected Edwards’ civic ambitions more clearly than the city-owned Mahaffey Theater.

Through Big3 Entertainment, Edwards managed the waterfront venue for 15 years and spent about $2 million of his own money on renovations. His company also invested in programming and worked to strengthen the Mahaffey’s place within St. Petersburg’s expanding arts scene.

Earlier this year, Edwards ended his role overseeing the theater as the city began searching for its next long-term operator.

His involvement at the Mahaffey extended beyond concerts and performances. Through the nonprofit Bill Edwards Foundation for the Arts, he supported theater and arts education programs that introduced young people across the region to live performance.

Edwards also donated millions of dollars to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital and supported organizations including the Museum of Fine Arts and the American Heart Association. He served on the board of the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership.

His other investments included The Club at Treasure Island, an event and recreational property that he sold in 2023, according to Pinellas County property records.