Tampa Bay Rays stadium deal appears dead, city delays vote to fund Trop repairs

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Tampa Bay Rays stadium deal appears dead, city delays vote to fund Trop repairs

A plan years in the making to build a modern $1.3 billion ballpark for the Tampa Bay Rays in the heart of downtown St. Pete may be completely dead.

On Thursday, St. Petersburg City Council voted to delay a vote that would approve two bonds totaling $287.5 million in tax-exempt funding for the new stadium, following suit with the Pinellas County Commission which voted to delay their bond funding for a second time earlier this week.

The county commissioners and city councilmembers were hesitant to grant the bond resolution due to the Rays’ lack of communication.

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Tampa Bay Rays win approval of Pinellas County funding for new $1.37 billion stadium in downtown St. Pete 

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Tampa Bay Rays win approval of Pinellas County funding for new $1.37 billion stadium in downtown St. Pete 

It's official - The Tampa Bay Rays have secured local government funding for a new $1.37 billion baseball stadium in a deal that will keep the team in St. Petersburg for decades to come.

In a 5-2 vote on Tuesday afternoon, Pinellas County Commissioners approved contributing $312.5 million of tourism tax revenue towards the construction of the stadium.

The tourism tax revenue is generated by a bed tax restricted to funding tourist-related development such as hotel expansions and other projects driving economic prosperity.  

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St. Pete City Council approves new Rays stadium and redevelopment of the 86-acre Historic Gas Plant District

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St. Pete City Council approves new Rays stadium and redevelopment of the 86-acre Historic Gas Plant District

In a historic vote, St. Petersburg City Council voted 5-3 to approve an agreement to build a new 30,000-seat stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays and redevelop the 86-acre Historic Gas Plant District site in downtown St. Pete.

The vote caps off decades of discussion surrounding the team’s future. Council members Deborah Figgs-Sanders, Copley Gerdes, Brandi Gabbard, Ed Montanari, and Gina Driscoll voted in favor of the agreement while Council members Lisset Hanewicz, John Muhammad, and Richie Floyd voted against it.

In total, the project will include nearly 8 million square feet of mixed-use development anchored by a new baseball stadium and cost north of $6.5 billion over 20 years.

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Amid concerns, $6.5 billion Rays stadium deal heads to final vote on Thursday

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Amid concerns, $6.5 billion Rays stadium deal heads to final vote on Thursday

Flexible language around promises to bring affordable housing to the area and the lack of transparency on the Tampa Bay Rays partnership agreements are at the top of city council members' minds.

St. Petersburg City Council members met as the Committee of the Whole (COW) Tuesday morning to analyze the details and recent tweaks made to agreements for both the proposed Rays stadium and the Historic Gas Plant redevelopment just two days before they cast their final vote.

The $6.5 billion development, which is being spearheaded by The Rays and Hines, would transform 86 acres in the heart of downtown St. Pete into an 8-million-square-foot mixed-use district anchored by a new ballpark - becoming the largest project to ever commence in Tampa Bay. 

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Done Deals: Rays select construction firm for new ballpark, Stella’s expands in Gulfport, Mid-century home lists

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Done Deals: Rays select construction firm for new ballpark, Stella’s expands in Gulfport, Mid-century home lists

Done Deals is a weekly column by St. Pete Rising spotlighting recent real estate market insight and significant deals happening in the Sunshine City and beyond. The following information is sourced from public records and trusted intel.

Have real estate news to share? Send us an email at hello@stpeterising.com.

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