Past St. Petersburg mayoral candidate offers cash for Tangerine Plaza

Former St. Petersburg City Council member and mayoral candidate Robert Blackmon has made a cash offer for a city-owned strip mall long pitched as a potential grocery store location, he has confirmed.

Tangerine Plaza, at 1794 22nd St. S, has sat vacant, only serving as a location for food drives, since a Walmart Neighborhood Market operated until 2017 as the sole grocer in that part of the city. The area is federally deemed a food desert and City Council members in May expressed frustration with the lack of progress in landing a new store.

Blackmon said he made the $1.625 million offer Aug. 11. In a letter to Mayor Ken Welch, he said he would reactivate the space as a grocery store-anchored retail center. Blackmon said the deal has no financing contingency, he would waive the right to inspect the property and he would agree to deed restrictions requiring that it remain as retail for at least five years after the sale closes.

“Every neighborhood should be a complete neighborhood,” he wrote. “This vision creates a community atmosphere, and helps relieve the burden of lengthy and cumbersome travel times to receive essential goods and services. It also eliminates a food desert in an underserved yet deserving community.”

Blackmon provided a copy of the offer after a Tampa Bay Times reporter contacted him about an entry on Welch’s calendar July 20 that read: “Phone Call with RB.” Blackmon confirmed that he and Welch spoke that day about the offer.

The city on Friday fulfilled a public records request made Tuesday for all correspondence regarding Tangerine Plaza over the past month, after an initial version of this story published online. Out of four responsive records, two were Blackmon’s email to city officials and the offer letter.

The city has been working with the Sugar Hill Group to redevelop the site since the previous mayor’s administration, but the group has struggled to demonstrate financial wherewithal. They propose demolishing the existing 40,000-square-foot space and building a retail space a quarter of the size, along with constructing two buildings for 115 affordable apartments — the economic driver of the project.

In a statement through a spokesperson, city Development Administrator James Corbett said Blackmon’s unsolicited offer “does not change our strategic partnership and collaboration with Sugar Hill Group.

“We are continuing to work with them on a long-term lease that will clear the way for additional funding to produce more workforce and affordable housing, retail store options, including a grocery store component,” Corbett said.

The Sugar Hill Group is not the same outfit as Sugar Hill Community Partners, which vied to redevelop Tropicana Field and the Historic Gas Plant District. The group, led by Roy Binger, the Rev. Louis Murphy and Oliver Gross, has been vying to develop the property since former Mayor Rick Kriseman’s administration. But after about two years of negotiations, a deal never came together before the end of Kriseman’s term.

Welch ended those talks upon taking office “for competitive fairness and other reasons,” a city spokesperson said. In May 2022, Sugar Hill Group submitted an unsolicited offer to redevelop Tangerine Plaza. Instead of issuing a request for proposals, in which the city lays out what it wants, the city issued a 30-day notice for other proposals for expediency, the spokesperson said. Only one other proposal was submitted, but the city selected Sugar Hill.

Sugar Hill is seeking a 75-year ground lease for $1.5 million. That comes out to a capitalized lease payment of $20,000 a year with an option to negotiate the purchase of the property after a third-party appraisal.

Murphy told the Times he was not aware of Blackmon’s offer. He said that offer doesn’t change Sugar Hill’s proposal nor the process.

“Anybody can do whatever they desire to do,” he said Friday. “We’re just trying to provide housing and access to a grocery store in the community. We’re just trying to help the community.”

In a text, Binger told the Times: “We are committed to the process with the city.” He would not comment further.

Last week, City Council members were told that the city is working on a lease with the Sugar Hill Group so it can have site control to be eligible to apply for affordable housing funding. Corbett said the plan is to bring a lease to the City Council for approval by the end of the year.

Blackmon lost to Welch in the 2021 St. Petersburg mayoral election. Since then, a project to revive the city-owned science center, championed by Blackmon, is underway and under contract. He is also turning a landmark gas station into a drive-thru coffee shop in the Harbordale neighborhood.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.