Letter shines light on Tangerine Plaza’s proposed grocer

Mayor Ken Welch’s administration announced Thursday that Tangerine Plaza’s developers secured a commitment from Taste of the Islands to provide the South St. Petersburg neighborhood’s first grocer since 2017.

However, the city council did not receive a copy of the letter or any additional details before approving Sugar Hill Group’s second request for additional time to complete redevelopment requirements. The letter, received Wednesday and subsequently obtained by the Catalyst, states that the developers and Taste of the Islands, Inc., “share a common goal” of revitalizing a site within “a federally designated food desert area.”

Sugar Hill will dedicate approximately 3,000 of the mixed-use development’s 10,000 square feet of commercial space to Taste of the Islands Marketplace, adjacent to but no longer affiliated with Taste of the Islands Restaurant, according to a representative from the latter business. ​The market’s social media page notes that it offers “hard to find Caribbean and Latin products” at 2219 34th St. S. – about 1.5 miles from Tangerine Plaza.

​“This letter of intent reflects the parties’ mutual interest in establishing a grocery store with a wide variety of fresh produce, healthy prepared food options and in-store dining capabilities,” states the document. “The grocery store will provide cultural and culinary diversity in the Deuces neighborhood.”

Welch credited Sugar Hill for “securing a small grocer” and “most of its financing” in a memo sent to the council Wednesday. At least two council members, who both voted against the year-long extension Thursday, disagreed with those statements.

Councilmember Gina Driscoll unsuccessfully requested a copy of the letter showing the grocer’s commitment “because it sounds like it’s done.” She said it was “not fair that you’re even asking the city council to take this up right now” when it “looks like everything has been thrown together by all sides to get this in front of us.”

The council will not meet again until after Sugar Hill’s previous extension terminates Jan. 2. Aaron Fisch, director of real estate and property management, had not “fully reviewed” the documents and could only provide the company’s name, without specifying whether it was the restaurant or market.

According to the Dec. 11 agenda, a letter Sugar Hill sent in November expressed the group’s intent to “provide the city with a commitment letter from a grocer” before the vote. Driscoll noted Thursday that in June 2024, administrators told the council that the initial extension was needed to secure financing and a market, which required site control.

“Now we’re sitting here 18 months later, and we don’t see that,” Driscoll added. “And you’ve got last-minute stuff coming in that we haven’t received yet. So, when you have the financing not secured, when you have a letter that we haven’t seen, when you still have questions about the financing, when you’re talking about borrowing money to help with this – the reasons that I voted against this agreement in June of 2024 are the same reasons that exist today.”

The Letters

As is common with agreements created before the developing group has site control, the letter of intent’s opening sentence states that it is a non-binding proposal.

​“This letter of intent (LOI) is intended solely as an outline of key business terms for preliminary discussion purposes,” states the document. “This proposal is not binding upon any party, and only the execution of the lease by both landlord and tenant will result in a binding agreement.”

​When reached by phone Friday, Leo Anderson, president of Taste of the Islands, Inc., which operates the market, declined to comment this early in the process.

Taste of the Islands Marketplace is at 2219 34th St. S., about 1.5 miles from Tangerine Plaza. Screengrab, Facebook.

​The LOI begins by noting that Tangerine Plaza, at 1794 22nd St. S., “sits at the heart of the Midtown community.” City officials have mandated developers to provide a grocer at the site since Sugar Hill submitted its first proposal in 2020, under former Mayor Rick Kriseman.

​Welch restarted the process in 2022 and also selected Sugar Hill. The group 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.

A timestamped report states that Binger created the document at 8:36 a.m. Wednesday. Anderson electronically signed and completed the agreement 30 minutes later and would sign a five-year lease, with two five-year renewal options.

The two parties would work collaboratively to build the market, with Sugar Hill agreeing to a $150,000 budget. Taste of the Islands is responsible for all additional costs.

​Sugar Hill must approve the market’s site plan and design. The developers will not lease other commercial space to a business “primarily engaged in the sale of groceries or the provision of Caribbean cuisine.”

​Taste of the Islands will pay $2.75 per square foot, $99,000, during the first year of the lease. Rent will increase by 5% annually.

Sugar Hill, which plans to build 186 affordable housing units and requested $22.3 million from the city and Pinellas County, has until Jan. 2, 2027, to secure financing, a grocer and meet other city requirements. The group would enter a $100,000 annual lease for 75 years, with the city waiving the first 24 months of payments, or purchase the property for $1.5 million.

​“Although the pace is not what we anticipated, Sugar Hill has made progress, including securing a small grocer, development partners and the majority of its financing,” Welch wrote in his memo.

​Administrators explained Thursday that they received LOIs for financing, a “starting point” that is “subject to many things being completed.” Councilmember Lisset Hanewicz, who also voted against the extension, said commitments are “not just based on hopes and dreams.”

The grocer

​Councilmember Corey Givens Jr. said he has patronized Taste of the Islands “pretty much my whole life.” However, he has concerns regarding its ability to “perform at this site.”

​Gross said the current shop occupies approximately 3,000 square feet. The community is familiar with the brand, and Taste of the Islands has “already demonstrated that there is market acceptance.”

The city profiled Anderson and Taste of the Islands Marketplace in April 2022. He moved to St. Petersburg in 2017 and called it a “great place to live” and raise a family.

Leo Anderson, president of Taste of the Islands, Inc. Screengrab, Facebook.

Anderson noted that his uncle and former business partner has operated the adjacent restaurant for over 30 years. He said the idea for a grocery store “was always there.”

“We pride ourselves in treating people good,” Anderson said. “Whether you’re paying us or not, we want you to feel at home.”

Gross said Thursday that Tangerine Plaza presents “an opportunity for them to augment their business model.” Gross added. Sugar Hill believes Taste of the Islands is an “ideal candidate” to capitalize on the group’s “holistic approach” to community development.

​“The market just wasn’t jumping up and down about a (larger) grocer, at the end of the day,” Gross continued. “Those are the realities of it.”

​He also noted that it is atypical to identify project tenants this early in the development process. However, securing a grocer has been a key stipulation for years.

​“That was OK,” Gross said of the expectation. “We believe in what we’re doing.”

​​Binger said Sugar Hill, the St. Pete Free Clinic and the St. Pete Greenhouse would support Anderson and help scale his business. “He will be a success story.”