Developers selected in 2022 to redevelop Tangerine Plaza, a city-owned strip mall in South St. Petersburg that once housed the area’s only grocery store, now have another year to secure funding and meet other requirements.
City council members approved Sugar Hill Group’s second request for an extension in a 6-2 vote Thursday after nearly two hours of ardent debate. The development team, which plans to build 186 affordable housing units and offer fresh food at the site for the first time since 2017, began submitting proposals in 2020.
Sugar Hill received an 18-month extension in June 2024, and now has until January 2027 to fulfill long-stipulated obligations. Council members who voted in favor preferred additional delays – with no guarantee that the project will come to fruition – over restarting the proposal process.
“Progress takes patience and persistence in the city,” said Chair Copley Gerdes. “It’s like driving the Titanic – you’ve got to do it one degree at a time. It doesn’t turn on a dime, and to turn that ship around is way more than to keep it going forward.”
Sen. Darryl Rouson, Pinellas County Commissioner Renee Flowers and NAACP president Esther Sanni advocated for the extension alongside other public speakers. Mayor Ken Welch urged the council to support another extension in a memo sent Wednesday.
Welch restarted a redevelopment process in July 2022 that began under former Mayor Rick Kriseman. The city selected Sugar Hill’s previously estimated $37 million proposal for the site at 1794 22nd St. S., colloquially known as The Deuces.
Sugar Hill includes Oliver Gross, president of Miami-based New Urban Development; Rev. Louis Murphy, senior pastor at Mt. Zion Progressive Ministry; and Roy Binger, CEO of Binger Financial Services. Gross was the first person to speak on behalf of the group.
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“This project remains a critical opportunity to advance inclusive progress on the Deuces by empowering a community-rooted development team and ensuring that revitalization includes – rather than displaces – long-standing members of the Deuces community,” Welch wrote.
“The issues of gentrification have been stated often as a concern in the Deuces community, and this is our best opportunity to ensure a substantial economic development opportunity for a group rooted in the Deuces and surrounding neighborhoods.”
Welch also listed multiple “complex” projects that required additional time and financial or financing support. Councilmember Brandi Gabbard and multiple colleagues echoed that sentiment.
“When it comes right down to it, I see no reason why we should not move forward,” Gabbard said. “Equity should be applied across the board to all developments, and consideration should be given in that equitable manner.”
Gabbard noted that the council was “not here to talk about funding today,” despite that being the primary reason for an extension. Sugar Hill has requested $22.3 million from the city and county, and the topic was broached early and often.
Welch and Sugar Hill’s community advocates said the group has secured most of its financing. Administrators admitted that they have received letters of intent, a “starting point” that is “subject to many things being completed” before final commitments.
“The bottom line is, the money is not there,” said Councilmember Lisset Hanewicz. “Contractual language, and commitments and having funding actually coming – it’s not just based on hopes and dreams. We are talking about things in the future that we don’t know are going to happen.”
Hanewicz voted against the initial 18-month extension. She said, “Nothing has changed.”
The administration received a letter of intent Wednesday from Taste of the Islands, which plans to operate a neighborhood market at the site. Aaron Fisch, director of real estate and property management, said he had yet to review the document Thursday afternoon.
Councilmember Gina Driscoll, who also voted against the first extension, asked if anyone could share the letter’s contents. She received the grocer’s name and no other details.
“It’s really not fair that you’re even asking the city council to take this up right now,” Driscoll added. “It looks like everything has been thrown together by all sides to get this in front of us because this is the last meeting before the agreement expires.”
Hanewicz and Driscoll voted against the latest extension. Councilmember Corey Givens Jr., who represents the area and expressed opposition last week, joined the majority Thursday.
“The last thing I want to do is see this train get derailed,” Givens said. I want to see it through to fruition. But at the same time, I have expectations and I have concerns.”
Councilmember Mike Harting proposed a 90-day extension. He also noted that the discussion should focus on “how quickly do we get to the point where someone who lives in that community can walk to a grocery store.”
Givens asked Harting, who acquiesced, to amend his motion to six months. Sugar Hill, which hopes to break ground in September 2026, needed an additional year to meet city requirements.
The motion failed without a second. Councilmember Deborah Figgs-Sanders said that if the project fails, “it won’t be for us not allowing equitable opportunity like we did with these other projects.”
“To me, removing blight is removing hurdles.”
Figgs-Sanders, Gerdes, Gabbard, Givens, Harting and Councilmember Richie Floyd approved the extension. Driscoll and Hanewicz dissented.
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