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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The future of the Tampa Bay Rays is coming into clearer focus as local officials begin public discussions about a proposed $1.3 billion ballpark that will anchor a much larger project to transform the Downtown St. Petersburg will include affordable housing, a Black history museum, a hotel, and office and retail space.
The St. Petersburg City Council on Thursday will begin a detailed review of development company Rays and the Hines’ plans for what the city is calling the Historic Gas Plant Project. The name is a nod to the 86-acre (34-hectare) area’s history as a once-thriving black community, demolished for what is now the Rays’ domed Tropicana Field and earlier for a freeway spur.
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Mayor Ken Welch is St. Petersburg’s first black mayor and his family has roots in the gasworks district when the city was segregated. He said it’s important to keep the Rays in the area and restore the promises of economic opportunity that were never realized for minority residents after the businesses and families were displaced decades ago.
“I see it as a real opportunity to lift up the whole city,” Welch, a Democrat, said in an interview at City Hall. “This isn’t just a stadium. This is a stadium surrounded by the largest development in the state of Florida, if not the country.”
The plan would limit years of uncertainty about the Rays’ future, including possible moves across the Bay to Tampa; Nashville, Tenn.; and even an idea to split home games between St. Petersburg and Montreal. The Rays typically rank among the lowest-attended teams in the MLB, despite the team making the playoffs five years in a row.
The proposed 30,000-seat ballpark, scheduled to open for the 2028 season, is a priority in the first phase of an eventual $6.5 billion project. Thursday’s City Council meeting will focus on other aspects of the plan, with the meeting scheduled for May 23 at the ballpark itself. Final votes are expected in either June or July; The Pinellas County Commission must also vote on the project.
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According to the Rays, the first phase will break ground next spring with the ballpark and an initial 1,500 residential units, 500 hotel rooms, office and medical space, a new Woodson African American Museum of Florida, and entertainment, conference, ballroom and event space include meeting rooms. The plan also calls for some open space, particularly around a nearby stream, as well as work on an abandoned black cemetery near the site.
The plan has received strong support from business and charitable leaders across Tampa Bay, as well as organizations ranging from the NHL’s Lightning to St. Pete Pride, an LGBTQ+ group. According to letters of support they sent to the council, many local black leaders are also in favor.
Gwendolyn Reese, president of the African American Heritage Association, once lived in the Gas Plant neighborhood. She said people like her and descendants of previous residents felt “validated” by the inclusive nature of the overall project. The local NAACP branch also supported it.
“People gave up their neighborhoods for a better life, and none of that happened,” Reese said. “It was like a stone in the hearts of many people in our community. This is a wonderful opportunity for the city to move forward.”
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The Rays’ baseball stadium is part of a wave of construction or renovations at sports venues across the country, including the Milwaukee Brewers, Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans and the Oakland Athletics planning a move to Las Vegas. Like the Rays, all of the projects involve millions of dollars in public funding, which are usually met with resistance.
The Rays’ financing plan calls for the city to spend $417.5 million, including $287.5 million on the ballpark itself and $130 million on infrastructure for the larger rehabilitation project, which includes wastewater, would include traffic signals and roads. The city is not planning any new or increased taxes.
Pinellas County, meanwhile, would spend about $312.5 million on its share of the ballpark costs. Officials say the county’s money will come from a bed tax that is largely funded by visitors and can only be spent on expenses related to tourism and economic development.
The Rays and Hines will be responsible for the remaining stadium costs — about $600 million — and any cost overruns during construction. The team would have naming rights to the ballpark that could exceed $10 million per year.
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Critics in the Tampa Bay area, including a group called No Home Run, believe the Rays and Hines should pay rent to make up for potentially lost property tax dollars, share revenue with the city and county and be required to to buy the prime property in the city center at a fairer value.
“The only real goal in this project was for the Rays to get an incredible deal for a new stadium and to keep all other major developers away so that the Rays wouldn’t give up control,” Alan Delisle, a former St. Petersburg city administrator, wrote in a post on the No Home Run site. “You will always do what is in the best interest of the team and the company. The city of St. Pete will always be secondary.”
But Mayor Welch said he and the project’s supporters are determined to see it through and that it has a real chance to transform the city, which is already dramatically transforming from a sleepy retirement haven into a beacon for younger residents with a hip downtown got far from the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico. After the ballpark opens, the remainder is expected to be completed in phases over approximately 20 years.
“I think we are in a much stronger and more competitive position than ever before,” Welch said. “We are very confident that we can do it this time.”
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