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The City Desk: The Time Has Come

Tangerine Plaza | Neighborhoods | Redevelopment

The City Desk is a monthly column written by and about the city of St. Petersburg. This month, Alan DeLisle, City Development administrator, talks about the work that has gone into making Tangerine Plaza a future success for the neighborhood and St. Pete.  (If other cities in the Tampa Bay area would like a monthly City Desk column, give us a ring or email us at info@tbreporter.com.)

By Alan DeLisle, City Development Administrator

We’ve held community meetings, conducted market studies, listened to interested parties, and explored several ideas. Now, the time has come.

After Walmart closed at Tangerine Plaza (22nd Street and 18th Avenue S), Mayor Rick Kriseman asked us to fully examine the plaza to better understand what the community wants as well as what the market will support.

The mayor’s goal is to develop a sustainable project. Everyone wants something that will last for a much longer time than the last two grocery store projects on that site.

His directive was simple: Let’s not overreact or over-subsidize and end up with another failure. Instead, let’s think outside the box and see what the market can sustain for the long-term benefit of the community.

With that said, the city performed a market study for the site, held community meetings, finalized a Master Plan for Deuces Live–22nd Street S., and discussed the site with several developers and community organizations.

Now, it’s time to issue a Request for Proposals and move the development process forward. After all the research, discussion, studies and input, it’s time to see who can step forward and make long-term sustainability a reality. The RFP was issued by the city on April 30 and responders have 60 days to submit their best proposals for consideration.

The goal is to produce an active plaza that (preferably) includes a grocery store or food hub. In addition, the city’s goal for redevelopment of the property is to create jobs for South St. Petersburg residents and to improve their quality of life. While the former Walmart building on the site is vacant, an active lease is still in place until 2026. The space makes up about 39,000 square feet, and seven smaller retail spaces adjacent to the former Walmart adds up to another approximately 8,000 square feet.. A mixed-use development on this site is an option.

The city will review the proposals carefully and Mayor Kriseman will make the decision to move forward. If Mayor Kriseman does decide to move forward, he will submit his choice to the St. Petersburg City Council for consideration.

Bottom line: our goal is to add the Tangerine Plaza redevelopment to the revitalization effort of the entire Deuces Live. Following the redevelopment of the Manhattan Casino and the soon-to-be-under-construction Commerce Park and 18th Avenue S project, the Tangerine Plaza project will help us take another step forward toward bringing back the historic energy of Deuces Live.

Photo of Tangerine Plaza site courtesy of the city of St. Petersburg.

Tangerine Plaza | St. Petersburg | Redevelopment | Business | Rick Kriseman | Tampabay News

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