Bradenton to solicit new ideas for failed grocery store site

BRADENTON -- Bradenton officials are ready to solicit new ideas for a vacant lot where a developer failed to build a new grocery store.

Officials acknowledge the community's desire for a grocery store on the lot at First Street West and 13th Avenue West, but they won't limit developers from presenting the best possible project for the site.

"We are still interested in the grocery store, but aren't 100-percent sure about the feasibility of it," said Carl Callahan, city administrator. "I think it's possible for someone to get it done, although it wasn't easy for the other group."

Callahan said the issues that arose through the attempted development process were site-specific. A $4.5 million construction cost rose to $7 million because of things like needing underground retention on the site, as well as non-construction related costs.

Ward 5 Councilman Harold Byrd Jr., who chairs the Community Redevelopment Agency board, said developers shouldn't be limited to presenting proposals for only a grocery store.

"Anybody that is going to show interest needs to note that a lot has been done on that property, including the expenditure of funds on engineering and other things," he said. "It's a little bit more than the community just saying they want a grocery store. It went through the whole CRA process, but I want to be in a position of putting a quality project on that site."

What readers are saying on social media

"There are no grocery stores in this area at all. If you need groceries, you need to go so far away that

it's past supper time by the time you get home." -- Vicki Graber Frame

What officials are saying on social media

"As chairman of the Bradenton CRA I remain committed to the development of a project that will be economically sound and one that the community and city will be proud of." -- CRA Chairman Harold Byrd Jr.

Other CRA business

CCRA: The redevelopment of Love Apartments combined with a new Martin Luther King Jr. mixed-use project remains on hold as CCRA officials work with developers through the tax-credit process.

14th Street CRA: The proposed Village Lofts project for the old Manatee Inns site also is going back through the tax-credit process.

Mark Young, Herald urban affairs reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7041 or follow him on Twitter @urbanmark2014.

This story was originally published May 4, 2016 at 11:49 PM with the headline "Bradenton to solicit new ideas for failed grocery store site ."