The City of St. Pete, Ferg’s sports bar, and Ellison Development are pitching in to purchase a mile of rail right-of-way in downtown St. Pete | Google

A years-long effort to bring a key stretch of the CSX rail corridor in downtown St. Pete into public ownership, including the segment that cuts directly through Ferg’s Sports Bar & Grill, is finally moving forward.

According to an October 15th email from St. Pete Transportation and Parking Management Director Evan Mory, CSX Transportation has accepted a conditional offer from the City of St. Petersburg to acquire nearly a mile of rail right-of-way stretching from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street along 1st Avenue South to 5th Avenue North.

The city plans to create a trail linking the Historic Gas Plant District redevelopment and the Pinellas Trail up to 5th Avenue North, with the longer-term goal of extending it to Booker Creek Park in North Kenwood.

The purchase is expected to cost $7 million, with $1 million coming from the City of St. Pete, $4 million from Mark Ferguson of Ferg’s Sports Bar, and $2 million from Ellison Development.

The offer cannot move forward without City Council approval, which is expected within the next 30 days.

A map of the rail corridor, which bisects ferg’s sports bar and grill and runs parallel to Tropicana Field | Pinellas County Property Appraiser

The rail line has been a point of contention for years.

In 2019, the City of St. Pete sued CSX after learning the company planned to sell the property to another buyer despite the city’s ongoing maintenance of portions of the corridor and its long-standing desire to convert the land to trail use.

A court ultimately ordered both parties to negotiate a possible sale.

CSX later commissioned an appraisal that valued the property at $87.9 million. But according to Mory’s email, because the land would come with strict limitations, including trail-only use, existing roadway easements, and the possibility of future rail reactivation, the company agreed to consider a much lower price.

Mark Ferguson and Ellison Development will be able to have commercial/retail activity occur on the portions immediately adjacent to their properties.

For Mark Ferguson, owner of Ferg’s Sports Bar, the deal represents both stability and opportunity.

The CSX easement runs directly through portions of his business and bisects his parking lot north of Central Avenue.

A map showing the land currently owned by Ferg’s (Blue), Ellison Development (Green), and CSX Transportation (Red), which is expected to be sold to the City of ST. Pete | Google & St Pete Rising

It has prevented the construction of permanent structures for decades, forcing Ferg’s to rely on temporary features like a stage, tents, and movable decks, as opposed to more permanent buildings.

In an interview with St. Pete Rising, Ferguson said the trail’s potential to bring more foot traffic downtown made it important for him to be part of the negotiations.

“We always want trails to go through cities because it attracts people,” he said. “Anything you have on the trail, such as an apartment complex or a bar, you’re going to get more customers.”

Under the preliminary terms, the city would purchase the corridor and then lease a portion back to Ferg’s.

Ferguson said he expects to sign a 99-year lease once the deal is finalized.

He added that the only theoretical drawback is the possibility that CSX could someday reclaim the corridor for rail use, which would require any structures to be removed in exchange for repayment plus interest.

Caked by layers of dirt and weeds, remnants of steel and lumber from the old csx rail line can still be seen in the EDGE District near Ferg’s sport bar & grill and the central mixed-use development | st. pete rising

Ellison Development, which is currently building The Central mixed-use project at 1301 Central Avenue, said the tentative acquisition does not change its development plans and that it has no immediate plans for the property it would lease from the city.

The Central includes a 540-space parking garage that is already open, a 168-room Marriott Autograph hotel, 14,000 square feet of retail, a 42-unit affordable housing community, and an 11-story, 125,000-square-foot Class A office building.

The future trail is expected to use about 30 feet of the corridor’s 100-foot width in front of The Central, leaving room for compatible commercial activity.

City funding would come from the Intown West Tax Increment Financing district and the Parking Revenue Fund, which the city says are appropriate sources because the property is identified in multiple local and regional planning documents and portions of the land may be used for paid parking until trail construction begins.

An aerial of Ferg’s Sports Bar shows temporary elements, including a stage, tents, and movable decks on the south side of the property behind the sport’s bar | Google

The preliminary agreement also gives the City of St. Pete a first right of refusal to purchase additional CSX-owned segments farther north if they become available.

Administration expects to bring the proposal to City Council within the next several weeks, where councilmembers will decide whether to authorize the agreement.

Ferguson said the agreement represents clarity after years of uncertainty.

“It’s going to be great,” he said. “Once we get the lease done with the city, at least we know Ferg’s can be in business for the next 99 years.”