ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A community grocery store could be steps closer to being a reality in South St. Pete. A group of organizers met with city leaders on Thursday to discuss a possible solution to the food desert in the area.

Based on reactions from city leaders, there’s a strong possibility something like this could happen, but this is still in the infancy stages.

What You Need To Know

A group of organizers met with St. Petersburg city leaders on Thursday to discuss a possible solution to the food desert in the area
One Community Co-op founding member Brother John Muhammad said idea of having a community-centered grocery store was born after the area’s only grocery store closed in Tangerine Plaza eight years ago and never returned

City leaders seem to be strongly considering this option, but there are several questions that remain, like location, funding and sustainability

One of the council members said she spoke with the developers of Tangerine Plaza, and they have secured a grocer. There are still a lot of steps for that process, but it’s something that could nix the conversation completely

The option up for discussion at the Health, Energy, Resiliency and Sustainability Committee meeting Thursday was the co-op proposal.

“A co-op is a business model where you have community residents who are the owners and operators. It’s basically just people who collectively work together to create a business,” said One Community Co-op founding member Brother John Muhammad. “The member owners would be the ones who determine what the products are in there. So, as a co-operative grocery store, are we going to sell processed food? Are we selling alcohol? So, you have more control over the products, the pricing and the investments being made.”

Muhammad said this idea of having a community-centered grocery store was born after the area’s only grocery store closed in Tangerine Plaza eight years ago, and never returned. It left behind a food desert with no healthy food for miles.

“We saw Sweetbay come and we saw them leave,” Muhammad said. “We saw Walmart come, we saw them leave, and it was like, ‘Okay, how do we address this? Do we wait on another Superman to come in, or another superhero, or do we organize our community?’”

City leaders seem to be strongly considering this option, but there are several questions that remain, like location, funding and sustainability.

The now-vacant Historic Manhattan Casino, slated to be an event space, was mentioned as a possibility, and so was Tangerine Plaza. Earlier this year, the city awarded the Sugar Hill Group to redevelop Tangerine Plaza.

“Right now, Sugar Hill, they have the development rights for Tangerine Plaza and so Tangerine Plaza has always been the focal point for this conversation, because a lot of these conversations started happening when Walmart, who was a tenant, left,” Muhammad said.

Since they’ve been gone, Muhammad said their co-op group has stepped up with pop-up grocery shops and so have others like Positive Impact St. Pete.

“We meet the need in South St. Pete. The need is extremely great. Every single Saturday, our organization provides food for nearly 3,000 individuals,” said Positive Impact St. Pete Executive Director Karen Rae.

Rae said she likes some of the ideas the co-op presented, but after eight years of watching a community in need, she’s hoping for a faster solution.

“I’m proposing that we work together to meet the need today. That we don’t wait on government assistance, but the individuals who have a heart for the hungry, step up and partner with positive impact where we can open a neighborhood market tomorrow,” she said.

There’s no real timeline of funding for Rae’s proposal-and the co-op plan is still up in the air too.

In the meeting, one of the council members said she spoke with the developers of Tangerine Plaza, and they have secured a grocer. There are still a lot of steps for that process, but it’s something that could nix the conversation completely.

After eight years of waiting, the people invested in the community said they want to keep all options on the table until the healthy food need is met.