ST. PETERSBURG — This may be proof that the EDGE District has officially become a restaurant row to rival dining destinations like St. Petersburg's Beach Drive or Tampa's South Howard: Rents, on the rise, are pushing out old-timers.

Ricky P's Orleans Bistro announced Tuesday that it will close at 1113 Central Ave. at the end of the month. After 4½ years in this spot, it will relocate to Bayview Plaza at 11002 Fourth St. N and will be renamed Ricky P's Creole Kitchen.

In a way, it's a homecoming. New Orleans native Rick Parsons shored up in Pinellas County some years back, testing out the local culinary waters with a booth at the Saturday Morning Market, but eventually going brick-and-mortar at 6521 Fourth St. N in the In Your Belly Deli space. Mostly a sandwich joint, it was swiftly joined by a second humble location inside Bob Lee's Tire & Mobil Co. farther down Fourth Street N. (Four tires and a catfish po'boy, a surprisingly harmonious marriage.)

When Savannah's on Central Avenue closed in 2011, building owner John Warren talked to Parsons about a third Ricky P's location. The details took a while to gel, but eventually Parsons unveiled the biggest, most ambitious Ricky P's yet.

But in 2016 it isn't as easy to sell the Big Easy on Central Avenue. Too much competition. Just a few weeks ago Bavaro's Pizza Napoletana & Pastaria opened right next door to recent newcomer Kings Street Food Counter, not far from other new restaurants like Hawkers Asian Street Fare, the Lure and Zaytoon Grill, with more on the horizon.

"We love seeing how this area has grown up in the past years," Parsons said by phone Tuesday. "I was so excited when Bodega opened and Pete (Veytia) opened Mercado. We saw foot traffic that was being created that was beneficial. But with Kings, Bavaros and others, the pie is getting cut into smaller pieces."

Parsons said the next phase of his rent came due in 2014 and that the writing was on the wall.

"It was clear with what has happened with the resurgence in the EDGE that the rent was going to go up. John Warren has been a landlord in this area for a very long time. He's been forecasting that this was going to happen. He needs to get a return on his investment, and we're not going to begrudge him that."

Parsons said his rent was poised to go up 30 percent over the next two years, a difficult prospect when you're seeing sales whittled away by new competition.

And then there's baseball.

"The lack of attendance at the Rays games didn't help us. Our normal customers don't want to battle the perceived parking problems when the Rays are in town. … Plus there's the anxiety of what is going to happen when the Rays move."

So why are new restaurateurs eager to open along the increasingly competitive Central Avenue? A concurrent residential boom means that eventually there will be apartments and condos providing a steadier customer base.

"But for now, it's still a destination. We had to ask ourselves if we had the financial wherewithal to wait that out. We don't. We never got into this business because we thought we'd be the next Outback," Parsons.

Catering has been an increasing part of the Ricky P's business model. Parsons says the new Fourth Street location will accommodate that without being as dauntingly large as the Central Avenue address.

"It's going to have 80 seats," Parsons said. "It's like Goldilocks: The deli was too small, the Savannah's space was too big. This next one is going to be just right."

Contact Laura Reiley at lreiley@tampabay.com or (727) 892-2293. Follow @lreiley.