Today, St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch stood behind a podium on the corner of 16th Street and 5th Avenue South under the 175 overpass to provide a huge update on the Tropicana Field redevelopment saga.

The announcement had been teased for months as the final decision on which proposal Mayor Welch would recommend – Midtown or Sugar Hill.

But instead, in front of a crowd of city leaders, stakeholders, and citizens, Mayor Welch announced that he will restart the process.

“As a County Commissioner, I was fully engaged in this process — attending meetings and presentations, speaking with the Kriseman administration and prospective development groups in my role as the County Commissioner whose district was based in St. Petersburg,” said Mayor Ken Welch. “I am impressed with the efforts from the two finalists in the current RFP process — Midtown Development and Sugar Hill Community Partners. However, our environment has changed in many ways since the initial RFP was issued in July of 2020, and we must ensure the RFP meets our current environment and realities and incorporates the most up-to-date information.”

As for the Tampa Bay Rays, they still have not decided where to build a new stadium.

“The new RFP process will allow the Rays to bid and/or partner, and any proposal they choose to participate in will be considered through the same lens as any other proposals,” said Mayor Welch. “The overarching goal is to choose a site plan that advances the vision of our community for inclusive progress.”

The world is a much difference place today than it was in 2020 when the original Request for Proposal (RFP) was issued. The pandemic has changed the way we work, the cost of housing has skyrocketed, and supply chain and labor issues impact the cost of capital projects.

Additionally, there continues to be a need for intentional equity and equitable development, which is highlighted by the city’s Disparity Study and Structural Racism report and the new Community Benefits model adopted by City Council last year.

Mayor Welch has instructed staff to target the new RFP release for August. Submissions will be due by the end of October. Midtown Development and JMA Ventures’ are invited to resubmit proposals.

The City hopes to select a new proposal by the end of the year. A term sheet is expected to be completed in Spring or early Summer and a development agreement submitted to City Council for approval in the Fall.

The City will also hold a series of community outreach events as the RFP is developed and through the decision-making process once the RFP has been issued.

The search for a new stadium began nearly 15 years and three mayors ago. Rick Baker was the Mayor of St. Pete when the Rays proposed to construct a new stadium on the downtown St. Pete waterfront in 2007.

The Rays plan to build on the waterfront would have required a majority approval from the public via a ballot referendum. But after public hesitancy and fear of the proposal not passing, the Rays backed out of their plan to put a referendum on the ballot. 

In 2010, Rays owner Stu Sternberg held a press conference asking the City of St. Pete for permission to explore new stadium sites outside of St. Pete. The Ray’s current contract prohibits them from looking outside city limits. The City of St. Pete did not grant the Rays permission to look outside the city until 2016. 

In 2018, the Rays announced their decision to pursue a new stadium site across the bay in Ybor City. However, concerns over financing ultimately killed the deal.

In 2019, a plan to split the season between Tampa Bay and Montreal was proposed by the Rays ownership. Mayor Kriseman expressed that the City would not help fund a new stadium if the team split their time between two cities. Later, MLB executives made an announcement that they were nixing the idea of a two-city season plan.

Meanwhile, in 2020, the City of St. Pete released an RFP to find a master developer to lead the redevelopment of Tropicana Field. Interested development groups were asked to provide two scenarios, one with a ballpark and one without a ballpark.

Seven proposals were released by the City of St. Pete in early 2021. After narrowing the list from seven to four, and then from four to two, Mayor Kriseman announced his selection of Midtown just one month before his term was up at the end of the year.

After Mayor Welch was inaugurated in early 2022, he announced that he would reconsider the top two proposals from the RFP – Midtown Development and Sugar Hill.

That brings us to today, where Mayor Welch has decided to go back to the drawing board and restart the RFP process.

While some important questions were answered today, the clock continues to tick. The Rays current agreement has them playing at Tropicana Field through the 2027 season. It takes time to design and build a new stadium, not to mention figuring out where the stadium will be built and who is going to pay for it.

“I am optimistic we will choose that right path, one that will bring jobs, equitable and diverse business opportunities, meet our need for housing, meeting space and innovative economic drivers, and support a state-of-the-art home for the Rays for decades to come,” Mayor Welch said.