Sprouts and At Home to anchor former Kmart plaza in Kenneth City
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Dec 23, 2021

At Home and Sprouts Farmers Market Inc. will soon be anchoring a retail plaza in Kenneth City, a suburb of St. Petersburg.

The property at 4501 66th St. N, which used to be the last remaining Kmart in Tampa Bay, was purchased by Atlanta-based Fuqua Development for $6 million.

Jeff Fuqua, founder of Fuqua Development, told the Tampa Bay Busines Journal that two large tenants, Sprouts and At Home, the home décor superstore, have signed leases to anchor the site after redevelopment. Fuqua Development specializes in developing “non-prototypical shopping centers,” according to its website, and purchased the 120,620-square-foot supermarket and the large parking lot, totaling approximately 10.9 acres.

“It’s a big site, 10 acres that’s been wanting to be redeveloped for so long,” Fuqua said. “We’re bringing great tenants; it’s a big deal we think for that site and it happened very quickly.” He added construction is expected to begin within 60 days, and some portion of the redevelopment could open in 2022.

Fuqua said At Home will have approximately 88,000 square feet in the redeveloped facility and Sprouts will have about 24,000 square feet. The 9,000 square feet between them is currently being negotiated with multiple tenants. He said that a large portion of the Kmart building will be retained, but a portion of it will be demolished for Sprouts.

The site plan indicates two outparcels will be built along 66th Street N and the developer proposes adding a traffic signal.

“It’s going to do great things for that corner,” Fuqua said. “It’s been sitting there for years undeveloped. It’s great for the area, too, these are really good tenants, and I think you’ll see other redevelopments occur in the corridor as some of these dying shopping centers get redeveloped.”

This will be the fourth Sprouts in Pinellas County — Clearwater, Seminole and Palm Harbor currently have operating locations — and the first to be opened near St. Petersburg. Kenneth City lies between St. Petersburg and Pinellas Park.

“We’re looking forward to expanding Sprouts in the area and offering our unique selection of products and fresh produce in a welcoming, farmers market atmosphere in Kenneth City,” Kalia Pang, spokesperson for Sprouts, told the Business Journal. “Local shoppers trust our stores to carry the most innovative items, and this site will allow us to reach the growing neighborhood of shoppers who are enthusiastic about their health.”

Gary Strait, the plans examiner for the Kenneth City Building Department, said no plans have been submitted yet for the property. He added that he was told the At Home development would be “a very aggressive project” as the company intends to open in 2022.

Fuqua Development has been behind the redevelopment of the North Palm Marketplace in Palm Beach Gardens and the Riverside & Jackson project in Jacksonville. Riverside & Jackson features 300 luxury multifamily units and includes retailers like The Fresh Market.

Seritage Growth Partners sold the property to Fuqua Development. The former Kmart property was built in 1970 and closed in early 2020. At one point, Seritage had leased a majority of its wholly-owned properties to Sears Holdings, which operated either the Sears or Kmart brand out of the facilities.