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New organic grocery store planned in St. Pete
An organic grocery store could be coming to a shopping center near the intersection of 38th Avenue North and 4th Street North.
A representative for the shopping center owner has declined to confirm the identity of the planned grocery store, but there is speculation that the new tenant will be Whole Foods Market.
Suncoast Fitness, a gym at 203 38th Ave. N., fueled the speculation in the past few days with a post on its Facebook page, saying it would closing in June or July “due to the Landlord building a Whole Foods on the Property.”
Good afternoon Suncoast Fitness Family,
We will be closing this facility in June or July due to the Landlord building a…Posted by Suncoast Fitness on Friday, February 26, 2021
Jay Miller, president of J Square Developers in St. Petersburg, told the St. Pete Catalyst, “We cannot yet confirm the name of the proposed tenant as there are contingencies remaining to be satisfied.”
There are several grocery stores already in the area around the planned development, including Publix Super Market at Northeast Park Shopping Center across 38th Avenue as well as Publix Super Market at 4th Street Station, about a block west. A few blocks south, Fresh Market is at 2900 4th St. N. and Trader Joe’s is at 2742 4th St. N.
Miller represented property owners Zag Enterprise Holdings LLC and Sunrise Plaza Holdings LLC during a Feb. 3 hearing before the city’s Development Review Commission. Zag, controlled by Abraham Reichbach and family, intends to deed the property at 3901 3rd St. N. to Sunrise, a related entity, in order to create a single parcel, “to accommodate redevelopment of the properties for a new organic grocery store,” Miller said in a letter to the city.
There’s also a Dollar General in the shopping center.
At the Development Review Commission meeting last month, Zag Enterprise Holdings and Sunrise Plaza Holdings asked the city to vacate, or give up its interest in, a 2,700-square-foot grassy patch near the shopping center to meet impervious surface requirements, in advance of the grocery development. Commissioners voted four-to-three against vacating the right of way, but suggested the developer could come back later with a site plan for the project and request a variance at that time.
Miller said the developer has submitted the site plan to the city.
