ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Residents who have been hoping for a grocery store in south St. Pete will have to wait a bit longer.

The development group chosen last year to remake Tangerine Plaza plans to ask city council Thursday for a one-year extension and over $22 million in city and county funds to get the project off the ground.

Last June, St. Pete City Council members narrowly voted in favor of the Sugar Hill Group’s plan to put more than 180 units of affordable housing and a small grocery store at the site of the current Tangerine Plaza. At the time, the group was told they had 18 months to secure funding and finalize those plans.

Documents submitted from Sugar Hill Group to the city show they have not successfully located funding for the entirety of the project. The group plans to ask for more than $11 million in funds from both Pinellas County and the South St. Petersburg CRA to cover the length of the mortgage. 

If the city rejects the developers ask for a one-year extension, the current agreement will expire January 2.

St. Pete City Council Member Corey Givens Jr, who represents the district where Tangerine Plaza is located, says he doesn’t plan to vote in favor of the extension.

“It’s not fair to taxpayers to have to keep fronting the buck for this,” he said. “I think you have other folks that have proposals and they have the financing in place and its only fair to restart the RFP process and give everyone a fair shot.”

Previously, Positive Impact Ministries was interested in redeveloping the plaza. For years, the group has held weekly food giveaways and outreach events at Tangerine Plaza. Their food pantry storage facility sits in the one of the once-vacant storefronts.

Givens says he wants change at the plaza and stop the waiting game.

“We just can’t keep kicking the can down the road. The folks that live there in that community, they’ve been without access to healthy and nutritious food since 2017,” he said. “I think it’s time to get a developer in there that actually has the financing in place to invest in that community.”

Erica Hardison, who runs the One Community Grocery Co-Op, says access to fresh food is so limited in her south St. Pete neighborhood and something need to change.

“You’re forced to ride a bus, catch an Uber, find rides… do all of these things to spend money outside your community,” she said.

St. Pete City Council members are expected to make a decision Thursday on the extension.