St. Pete officially ends Rays redevelopment deal, approve Tropicana Field repairs

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St. Pete officially ends Rays redevelopment deal, approve Tropicana Field repairs

One year after entering into a $6.5 billion redevelopment deal with the Tampa Bay Rays and national developer Hines, St. Pete City Council unanimously voted on Thursday to terminate the agreement.

The deal would have allowed the 86-acre Historic Gas Plant District be to redeveloped into a new mixed-use neighborhood with nearly 8 million square feet of space, including a $1.3 billion baseball stadium.

City Council’s vote was largely procedural, as the Rays and Hines had announced in March that they were withdrawing from the deal after missing key project milestones.

Mayor Ken Welch, who was a strong supporter of the project, addressed the termination in a statement following the vote.

“While the Rays’ decision is terribly disappointing, our mission was to adapt and refocus on our primary objective – the progress of our city,” said Welch. “And part of that mission is accomplished by today’s City Council vote.”

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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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Rays and Hines inch closer to striking deal with city on Gas Plant development agreement

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Rays and Hines inch closer to striking deal with city on Gas Plant development agreement

A nine-hour discussion ensued Thursday as St. Pete City Council members meticulously combed through the Tampa Bay Rays and Hines' 183-page development agreement for the Historic Gas Plant District. 

It took over a decade and countless hours of negotiations to reach this milestone conversation about the $6.5 billion development that will 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. 

If ultimately approved, the new 30,000-seat enclosed stadium will open in 2028 as part of the first phase of the 30-year planned development.

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