Developer plans 13th Avenue grocery store in Bradenton. Is this one ‘bound for success’?
The city of Bradenton’s Community Redevelopment Agency is ready to work with a new developer who says he can build a grocery store on 13th Avenue West.
Several other developers have tried to make the site, located in the 200 block of 13th Avenue West, work as a food market, but none of those plans came to fruition. In a presentation to the CRA Wednesday morning, Peter D’Addeo made a compelling offer.
“We will, to the best of my ability, make this a neighborhood shopping center, and it will include a food store,” said D’Addeo, founder of Commercial Services Realty, a Connecticut-based real estate developer.
D’Addeo’s proposal is to bring two buildings to the 3.5-acre parcel, including a 12,500-square-foot pharmacy and a 17,000-square-foot grocery store.
Bradenton officials first held a groundbreaking ceremony in 2012, promising to build a Minnie L. Rogers Plaza, named after the local civil rights icon who obtained federal funding to build an activity center for minority children. The project to build a Save-A-Lot-anchored shopping center ultimately fell through.
Despite the city’s earlier difficulty in securing a grocer for the site, D’Addeo said he’s confident his plan will be successful. As a local resident with other family businesses in the area, he said he’s committed to making the project work.
“It’s just not reasonable to think that with the population and traffic that we can’t find a tenant to bring you,” he said.
City Administrator Carl Callahan explained that there were five other suitors interested in the site, but D’Addeo was one of the only ones interested in paying for the site with cash, instead of a tax credit deal.
One of the issues with D’Addeo’s proposal is that the draft site plan puts the buildings too far away from the roadway, which conflicts with Bradenton’s form-based code. D’Addeo urged the CRA to provide an exception for this site, which could help him secure a lease with a grocer.
D’Addeo’s company has previously worked with grocers like Whole Foods Market and has already been in contact with companies, such as Aldi and Trader Joe’s, to inquire about their interest in the site.
According to preliminary conversations with grocers, D’Addeo said visibility from the road is a crucial factor for securing a tenant. Because the site is triangular, developing it will be tricky, he explained.
“While we’re aware of the form-based code, we hope you’re willing to look around that to attract the kind of customer you want to see,” D’Addeo explained.
Callahan said he believed the plan would still work with slight adjustments. Overall, CRA members were happy to hear about the proposal.
“Just having someone interested in doing something is exciting,” said Councilman Gene Gallo.
Callahan explained that the CRA’s decision to push for a grocery store has made it difficult to develop the site, but if the CRA had chosen to just sell the property, the agency wouldn’t have control over what is developed there.
“You can want what you want, but you can’t make it happen,” Callahan told the council. “If (D’Addeo) brings 14 grocers to the table and they all say no, it just can’t happen.”
While council members acknowledged the difficulty, they said they were looking forward to working with D’Addeo to develop the site.
“It’s good to hear that there are possibilities like a Trader Joe’s or an Aldi that may fit, but I have to say I wish I was 100 percent guaranteed that you could do it, but I understand that’s not the instance,” said Councilman Harold Byrd Jr.
“It’s got a lot of challenges, and that’s probably why we haven’t gotten anywhere,” Councilman Patrick Roff added.
Based on Wednesday’s discussion with the CRA and a consensus of approval, D’Addeo said he will move forward with the process and work with the city to develop a draft lease. An actual land sale agreement would need to be approved by a CRA vote.
“We’re bound for success. I don’t want something bad. You don’t want something bad,” D’Addeo told the CRA. “I’m putting my family’s own money into this.”
This story was originally published August 26, 2020 at 4:18 PM.
