Talks on St. Petersburg’s Tropicana Field, Tangerine Plaza progressing
ST. PETERSBURG — City officials on Thursday told City Council members that negotiations over redevelopment of key city-owned properties, including Tropicana Field and Tangerine Plaza, are progressing.
Economic and workforce development Director Brian Caper said officials are still in negotiations with the Hines/Tampa Bay Rays development team for the Historic Gas Plant District, the 86 acres next to downtown where Tropicana Field is located. He said he expects both parties to agree to terms before the end of the year, with a term sheet coming to the City Council before the end of 2023 and a development agreement ready by the spring of 2024.
As for Tangerine Plaza, a former grocery site that has sat empty for six years, city development Administrator James Corbett said city attorneys are working on a lease for the Sugar Hill Group, which has been vying to redevelop the property since the prior mayor’s administration.
The city wants to grant the Sugar Hill Group a lease so it can have site control to be eligible to apply for funding for affordable housing. Corbett said the plan is to bring a lease to the City Council for approval by the end of the year.
Another proposed project, by Sankofa on the Deuces, includes 24 affordable for-sale townhomes, two two-story commercial buildings, commercial space and micro incubator spaces. Caper said site work “is still underway” with “financial feasibility under review.” But the project is proceeding more slowly.
City Council member Ed Montanari asked what the plan is to fill 40,000 square feet of commercial space. City Administrator Rob Gerdes said the city’s priority is the residential part of the project. He said there is an existing agreement with the Sankofa Vision Group to operate that commercial space.
“The prices that we’ve seen so far on the residential component is frankly unacceptable,” he said, adding that he expects a new guaranteed maximum price on Tuesday.
“If that price is not satisfactory and reasonable for us to construct the units, then we’ll have to look at some alternative options such as delaying the project until market conditions change or maybe other alternatives,” Gerdes said. “So right now, the commercial space is really secondary and much further away.”
He said a third party looked at initial costs, but he wasn’t satisfied with the proposal.
City Council member Gina Driscoll asked about the timeline on the Sankofa project.
“I’ll share with you my personal disappointment,” Gerdes said. “I’m sitting on basically 100% construction drawings for the townhomes. I just don’t have the price that I can bring to you with a straight face and ask you to approve to build them.
“I’m ready to go. We’re ready to go,” he said. “The market is just killing us right now.”
Driscoll also asked about one city-owned site that was missing from the presentation: the Manhattan Casino, a landmark that was once the heartbeat of the Deuces, a segregation-era Black entertainment and business district.
Corbett said the city is in the process of replacing the air conditioning unit on the second floor. He said internal talks have been focused on making the Manhattan Casino a city-run event space instead of seeking a third party to operate it.
Corbett said the first and second floors could be rented out separately and simultaneously, or both floors could be rented for one event.
Driscoll also asked for the latest on the science center. The city’s real estate and property management director, Aaron Fisch, said he sent over contracts Wednesday to the St. Petersburg Group, which is buying the land for $1.6 million. He said the group is still putting funding together, and the closing is expected to happen six months from the contract’s effective date.
Plans for the west St. Petersburg property include restoring the building as it once was: A hub for science, technology, engineering and mathematics studies for students and teens, plus an event space. It opened in 1959 and closed in 2014. The property is adjacent to the Northwest Water Reclamation Facility.
