City Council vote could enable new Tampa Bay Rays ballpark – and transformation of old site

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – A key city council vote was on a major redevelopment project in St.

The $6.5 billion project, supporters say, will transform an 86-hectare (34-acre) tract of downtown, with plans in the coming years for a Black history museum, affordable housing, a hotel, green space, entertainment and office space. . and shop space. There are promises of thousands of jobs as well.

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The site, home to the Rays’ domed Tropicana Field and a sprawling parking lot, is now home to a thriving Black community displaced by ballpark construction and interstate highways. A priority for the Mayor of St. Petersburg Ken Welch to right some past wrongs in what is known as the Historic Gas Works District.

“This city has never done anything of this scope,” said Welch, the city’s first Black mayor with family ties to the old neighborhood. “This is an important day for our city and our county.”

The linchpin of the project is the planned $1.3 billion ballpark with 30,000 seats, scheduled to open for the 2028 season. That will close the year of uncertainty about the future of the Rays’, including possible moves across the bay to Tampa, or Nashville, Tennessee, or even to split the home game between St. Petersburg and Montreal, the MLB idea was rejected.

Stu Sternberg, Rays principal owner, said the approval of the project – which also requires a vote by the Pinellas County Commission – will be based on the question of the team’s future location.

“We want to be here. We want to stay here,” Sternberg said Wednesday.

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The Rays have typically drawn among the fewest in MLB, even though the team has made the playoffs five years in a row. This year, at this week’s All-Star break, the Rays have a 48-48 record, placing them fourth in the American League East division.

The funding plan calls for the city to spend about $417.5 million, including $287.5 million for the ballpark itself and $130 million in infrastructure for a larger redevelopment project that will include sewage, traffic signals and roads. The city envisions no new or increased taxes.

Pinellas County, meanwhile, will spend about $312.5 million for its share of ballpark costs. Officials say the county’s money will come from a bed tax that is largely funded by visitors that can only be used for economic development and tourism costs. The county commission is set to vote on the plan on July 30.

The remainder of the project was primarily financed by the Rays and Houston-based development company Hines.

The ballpark plan is part of a wave of construction or renovation projects at sports venues around the country, including the Milwaukee Brewers, Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans and Oakland Athletics, who are planning to move to Las Vegas. Like the Rays proposal, the entire project comes with millions of dollars in public funding that usually draws opposition.

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Although the city’s business and political leadership are mostly behind the deal, something is troubling them. Councilman Richie Floyd said there are many ways we can work to meet the needs of the community.

“This is still one of the largest stadium subsidies in MLB history. That’s the core of my concern,” Floyd said.

A citizen group called “No Home Run” and other organizations opposed the deal, with the conservative/libertarian Americans for Prosperity opposing the track record for publicly funded sports stadiums not encouraging.

“The economic benefits promised by supporters of publicly funded sports stadiums are no longer feasible,” said Skylar Zander, the group’s state director. “Studies have consistently shown that the return on investment for these projects is questionable at best, with most of the economic benefits going to private interests rather than the public at large.”

However, the project seems to have momentum. For the former residents and descendants of Gas Factory District, they cannot come soon.

“Across this country our history is being erased. That’s not going to happen here,” said Gwendolyn Reese, president of the African American Heritage Association of St. Louis. “Our voice will be heard. And not only heard, but appreciated.

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