St. Pete to discuss Tangerine Plaza's future, non-profit offers to buy space

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The City of St. Petersburg is trying to design the future of Tangerine Plaza to include affordable housing and a grocery store, but changes for the economically distressed area have been slow. 

Other groups are now asking the city to take a look at their ideas for the space. 

Every weekend in Tangerine Plaza, cars are wrapped around the block as Positive Impact Ministries passes out free boxes of nutritious food to hundreds of neighbors – many of whom face food insecurity. 

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"We are right in the middle of a food desert," said Karen Rae, the executive director for Positive Impact Ministries.

The area in South St. Pete is miles away from the nearest grocery store after the one that used to be in the plaza vacated in 2017. Rae said Positive Impact Ministries now wants to serve the community full time. 

"I had a neighbor the other day with blueberries in her hands and she said this: 'It's just so amazing that I can have these blueberries. We never had blueberries growing up, and I certainly can't afford to pay $8 for a pack of blueberries now,'" said Rae.

The non-profit is offering to buy Tangerine Plaza from the city, to create a free neighborhood market and a culinary arts center for on-the-job training, a family café and a banquet hall.

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"Our neighbors can shop with dignity," said Rae. "They can come in, they can select the foods that they want, as well as the foods that they need to meet their personal dietary needs."

But, they aren't the only ones vying for the space. City leaders have already selected Sugar Hill Group to redevelop the plaza when it asked for proposals back in 2019. Those plans, however, have lagged behind. 

The St. Pete development group, Stoneweg, also offered to buy the plaza from the city for an affordable housing mixed use project. In its proposal, Stoneweg said it's unsure about securing a permanent grocer, and instead suggested they could leverage pop-up markets and food hall-type vendors.

Rae said she's hopeful the city will change its current course.

"We want to have this area thrive like it has in the years past, and we believe that we can help make that happen," said Rae.

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There's an economic development meeting on Thursday where the city will discuss the future of Tangerine Plaza, including the current lease and development options with the Sugar Hill group.

Positive Impact Ministries said it will be at that meeting and will be taking around 100 neighbors from the community with them, so they can share their hopes for the plaza.

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