diff --git a/sdk/python/feast/api/registry/rest/metrics.py b/sdk/python/feast/api/registry/rest/metrics.py
index 095feec51cb..32253e85aca 100644
--- a/sdk/python/feast/api/registry/rest/metrics.py
+++ b/sdk/python/feast/api/registry/rest/metrics.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 import json
-import logging
 from typing import Dict, List, Optional
 
 from fastapi import APIRouter, Depends, HTTPException, Query, Request
@@ -57,7 +56,6 @@ class PopularTagsResponse(BaseModel):
 
 
 def get_metrics_router(grpc_handler, server=None) -> APIRouter:
-    logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
     router = APIRouter()
 
     @router.get("/metrics/resource_counts", tags=["Metrics"])
@@ -321,20 +319,43 @@ async def recently_visited(
             user = getattr(request.state, "user", None)
         if not user:
             user = "anonymous"
-        project_val = project or (server.store.project if server else None)
         key = f"recently_visited_{user}"
-        logger.info(
-            f"[/metrics/recently_visited] Project: {project_val}, Key: {key}, Object: {object_type}"
-        )
-        try:
-            visits_json = (
-                server.registry.get_project_metadata(project_val, key)
-                if server
-                else None
-            )
-            visits = json.loads(visits_json) if visits_json else []
-        except Exception:
-            visits = []
+        visits = []
+        if project:
+            try:
+                visits_json = (
+                    server.registry.get_project_metadata(project, key)
+                    if server
+                    else None
+                )
+                visits = json.loads(visits_json) if visits_json else []
+            except Exception:
+                visits = []
+        else:
+            try:
+                if server:
+                    projects_resp = grpc_call(
+                        grpc_handler.ListProjects,
+                        RegistryServer_pb2.ListProjectsRequest(allow_cache=True),
+                    )
+                    all_projects = [
+                        p["spec"]["name"] for p in projects_resp.get("projects", [])
+                    ]
+                    for project_name in all_projects:
+                        try:
+                            visits_json = server.registry.get_project_metadata(
+                                project_name, key
+                            )
+                            if visits_json:
+                                project_visits = json.loads(visits_json)
+                                visits.extend(project_visits)
+                        except Exception:
+                            continue
+                    visits = sorted(
+                        visits, key=lambda x: x.get("timestamp", ""), reverse=True
+                    )
+            except Exception:
+                visits = []
         if object_type:
             visits = [v for v in visits if v.get("object") == object_type]
 
diff --git a/sdk/python/feast/infra/compute_engines/spark/utils.py b/sdk/python/feast/infra/compute_engines/spark/utils.py
index a03cfdb12d1..4e429f8e075 100644
--- a/sdk/python/feast/infra/compute_engines/spark/utils.py
+++ b/sdk/python/feast/infra/compute_engines/spark/utils.py
@@ -21,9 +21,6 @@ def get_or_create_new_spark_session(
                 conf=SparkConf().setAll([(k, v) for k, v in spark_config.items()])
             )
 
-        spark_builder = spark_builder.config("spark.driver.host", "127.0.0.1")
-        spark_builder = spark_builder.config("spark.driver.bindAddress", "127.0.0.1")
-
         spark_session = spark_builder.getOrCreate()
     spark_session.conf.set("spark.sql.execution.arrow.pyspark.enabled", "true")
     return spark_session
diff --git a/sdk/python/feast/infra/registry/caching_registry.py b/sdk/python/feast/infra/registry/caching_registry.py
index ab7944585b6..ce346272af9 100644
--- a/sdk/python/feast/infra/registry/caching_registry.py
+++ b/sdk/python/feast/infra/registry/caching_registry.py
@@ -425,9 +425,6 @@ def list_projects(
         return self._list_projects(tags)
 
     def refresh(self, project: Optional[str] = None):
-        if self._refresh_lock.locked():
-            logger.debug("Skipping refresh if already in progress")
-            return
         try:
             self.cached_registry_proto = self.proto()
             self.cached_registry_proto_created = _utc_now()
@@ -436,43 +433,47 @@ def refresh(self, project: Optional[str] = None):
 
     def _refresh_cached_registry_if_necessary(self):
         if self.cache_mode == "sync":
-            # Try acquiring the lock without blocking
-            if not self._refresh_lock.acquire(blocking=False):
-                logger.debug(
-                    "Skipping refresh if lock is already held by another thread"
-                )
-                return
-            try:
-                if self.cached_registry_proto == RegistryProto():
-                    # Avoids the need to refresh the registry when cache is not populated yet
-                    # Specially during the __init__ phase
-                    # proto() will populate the cache with project metadata if no objects are registered
-                    expired = False
-                else:
-                    expired = (
-                        self.cached_registry_proto is None
-                        or self.cached_registry_proto_created is None
-                    ) or (
-                        self.cached_registry_proto_ttl.total_seconds()
-                        > 0  # 0 ttl means infinity
-                        and (
-                            _utc_now()
-                            > (
-                                self.cached_registry_proto_created
-                                + self.cached_registry_proto_ttl
-                            )
-                        )
+
+            def is_cache_expired():
+                if (
+                    self.cached_registry_proto is None
+                    or self.cached_registry_proto == RegistryProto()
+                ):
+                    return True
+
+                # Cache is expired if creation time is None
+                if (
+                    not hasattr(self, "cached_registry_proto_created")
+                    or self.cached_registry_proto_created is None
+                ):
+                    return True
+
+                # Cache is expired if TTL > 0 and current time exceeds creation + TTL
+                if self.cached_registry_proto_ttl.total_seconds() > 0 and _utc_now() > (
+                    self.cached_registry_proto_created + self.cached_registry_proto_ttl
+                ):
+                    return True
+
+                return False
+
+            if is_cache_expired():
+                if not self._refresh_lock.acquire(blocking=False):
+                    logger.debug(
+                        "Skipping refresh if lock is already held by another thread"
+                    )
+                    return
+                try:
+                    logger.info(
+                        f"Registry cache expired(ttl: {self.cached_registry_proto_ttl.total_seconds()} seconds), so refreshing"
                     )
-                if expired:
-                    logger.debug("Registry cache expired, so refreshing")
                     self.refresh()
-            except Exception as e:
-                logger.debug(
-                    f"Error in _refresh_cached_registry_if_necessary: {e}",
-                    exc_info=True,
-                )
-            finally:
-                self._refresh_lock.release()  # Always release the lock safely
+                except Exception as e:
+                    logger.debug(
+                        f"Error in _refresh_cached_registry_if_necessary: {e}",
+                        exc_info=True,
+                    )
+                finally:
+                    self._refresh_lock.release()
 
     def _start_thread_async_refresh(self, cache_ttl_seconds):
         self.refresh()
diff --git a/sdk/python/feast/infra/registry/sql.py b/sdk/python/feast/infra/registry/sql.py
index c2e20005a65..360a844b0be 100644
--- a/sdk/python/feast/infra/registry/sql.py
+++ b/sdk/python/feast/infra/registry/sql.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
     MetaData,
     String,
     Table,
+    Text,
     create_engine,
     delete,
     insert,
@@ -209,7 +210,7 @@ class FeastMetadataKeys(Enum):
     metadata,
     Column("project_id", String(255), primary_key=True),
     Column("metadata_key", String(50), primary_key=True),
-    Column("metadata_value", String(50), nullable=False),
+    Column("metadata_value", Text, nullable=False),
     Column("last_updated_timestamp", BigInteger, nullable=False),
 )
 
@@ -326,6 +327,7 @@ def teardown(self):
             entities,
             data_sources,
             feature_views,
+            stream_feature_views,
             feature_services,
             on_demand_feature_views,
             saved_datasets,
@@ -845,18 +847,6 @@ def process_project(project: Project):
             project_name = project.name
             last_updated_timestamp = project.last_updated_timestamp
 
-            try:
-                cached_project = self.get_project(project_name, True)
-            except ProjectObjectNotFoundException:
-                cached_project = None
-
-            allow_cache = False
-
-            if cached_project is not None:
-                allow_cache = (
-                    last_updated_timestamp <= cached_project.last_updated_timestamp
-                )
-
             r.projects.extend([project.to_proto()])
             last_updated_timestamps.append(last_updated_timestamp)
 
@@ -871,7 +861,7 @@ def process_project(project: Project):
                 (self.list_validation_references, r.validation_references),
                 (self.list_permissions, r.permissions),
             ]:
-                objs: List[Any] = lister(project_name, allow_cache)  # type: ignore
+                objs: List[Any] = lister(project_name, allow_cache=False)  # type: ignore
                 if objs:
                     obj_protos = [obj.to_proto() for obj in objs]
                     for obj_proto in obj_protos:
@@ -1020,6 +1010,9 @@ def _apply_object(
             if not self.purge_feast_metadata:
                 self._set_last_updated_metadata(update_datetime, project, conn)
 
+        if self.cache_mode == "sync":
+            self.refresh()
+
     def _maybe_init_project_metadata(self, project):
         # Initialize project metadata if needed
         with self.write_engine.begin() as conn:
@@ -1062,6 +1055,8 @@ def _delete_object(
             if not self.purge_feast_metadata:
                 self._set_last_updated_metadata(_utc_now(), project, conn)
 
+            if self.cache_mode == "sync":
+                self.refresh()
             return rows.rowcount
 
     def _get_object(
diff --git a/sdk/python/tests/integration/registration/test_universal_registry.py b/sdk/python/tests/integration/registration/test_universal_registry.py
index ea0f3ddcd67..eb663d8565a 100644
--- a/sdk/python/tests/integration/registration/test_universal_registry.py
+++ b/sdk/python/tests/integration/registration/test_universal_registry.py
@@ -273,6 +273,8 @@ def sqlite_registry():
     registry_config = SqlRegistryConfig(
         registry_type="sql",
         path="sqlite://",
+        cache_ttl_seconds=2,
+        cache_mode="sync",
     )
 
     yield SqlRegistry(registry_config, "project", None)
@@ -1156,11 +1158,10 @@ def test_registry_cache(test_registry):
     registry_data_sources_cached = test_registry.list_data_sources(
         project, allow_cache=True
     )
-    # Not refreshed cache, so cache miss
-    assert len(registry_feature_views_cached) == 0
-    assert len(registry_data_sources_cached) == 0
+    assert len(registry_feature_views_cached) == 1
+    assert len(registry_data_sources_cached) == 1
+
     test_registry.refresh(project)
-    # Now objects exist
     registry_feature_views_cached = test_registry.list_feature_views(
         project, allow_cache=True, tags=fv1.tags
     )
diff --git a/sdk/python/tests/unit/infra/registry/test_registry.py b/sdk/python/tests/unit/infra/registry/test_registry.py
index f103925f1c1..51bb7d28e32 100644
--- a/sdk/python/tests/unit/infra/registry/test_registry.py
+++ b/sdk/python/tests/unit/infra/registry/test_registry.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 import pytest
 
 from feast.infra.registry.caching_registry import CachingRegistry
+from feast.protos.feast.core.Registry_pb2 import Registry as RegistryProto
 
 
 class TestCachingRegistry(CachingRegistry):
@@ -188,6 +189,63 @@ def test_cache_expiry_triggers_refresh(registry):
         mock_refresh.assert_called_once()
 
 
+def test_empty_cache_refresh_with_ttl(registry):
+    """Test that empty cache is refreshed when TTL > 0"""
+    # Set up empty cache with TTL > 0
+    registry.cached_registry_proto = RegistryProto()
+    registry.cached_registry_proto_created = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
+    registry.cached_registry_proto_ttl = timedelta(seconds=10)  # TTL > 0
+
+    # Mock refresh to check if it's called
+    with patch.object(
+        CachingRegistry, "refresh", wraps=registry.refresh
+    ) as mock_refresh:
+        registry._refresh_cached_registry_if_necessary()
+        # Should refresh because cache is empty and TTL > 0
+        mock_refresh.assert_called_once()
+
+
+def test_concurrent_cache_refresh_race_condition(registry):
+    """Test that concurrent requests don't skip cache refresh when cache is expired"""
+    import threading
+    import time
+
+    # Set up expired cache
+    registry.cached_registry_proto = RegistryProto()
+    registry.cached_registry_proto_created = datetime.now(timezone.utc) - timedelta(
+        seconds=5
+    )
+    registry.cached_registry_proto_ttl = timedelta(
+        seconds=2
+    )  # TTL = 2 seconds, cache is expired
+
+    refresh_calls = []
+
+    def mock_refresh():
+        refresh_calls.append(threading.current_thread().ident)
+        time.sleep(0.1)  # Simulate refresh work
+
+    # Mock the refresh method to track calls
+    with patch.object(registry, "refresh", side_effect=mock_refresh):
+        # Simulate concurrent requests
+        threads = []
+        for i in range(3):
+            thread = threading.Thread(
+                target=registry._refresh_cached_registry_if_necessary
+            )
+            threads.append(thread)
+            thread.start()
+
+        # Wait for all threads to complete
+        for thread in threads:
+            thread.join()
+
+    # At least one thread should have called refresh (the first one to acquire the lock)
+    assert len(refresh_calls) >= 1, (
+        "At least one thread should have refreshed the cache"
+    )
+
+
 def test_skip_refresh_if_lock_held(registry):
     """Test that refresh is skipped if the lock is already held by another thread"""
     registry.cached_registry_proto = "some_cached_data"