Tropicana Field Redevelopment

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.  

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.

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. 

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.

Who's picking up the tab for the new Tampa Bay Rays's $1.3 billion ballpark, where’s that funding is coming from, and other lingering questions were answered this week during a seven-hour-long discussion.

On Wednesday morning, St. Pete City Councilmembers, Mayor Ken Welch, and Rays executives hashed out the details of the stadium agreement during a Committee of the Whole workshop meeting.

On Thursday, St. Petersburg City Council preliminarily voted 5-3 to approve a development agreement for the new Rays stadium. The opposing votes came from Councilmembers Hanewicz, Muhammad, and Floyd.

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.

New renderings released today by the Tampa Bay Rays and Hines reveal an activated Booker Creek, Class A office space, and an art installation that will pay homage to the history of the Historic Gas Plant District.

The detailed renderings were unveiled during a Committee of the Whole meeting as councilmembers were beginning to examine and inquire about the terms and language of the draft development agreement with the joint venture partners.

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

It will be the largest mixed-use development project in Tampa Bay history.

The Tampa Bay Rays and the City of St. Petersburg are getting ahead of the game by soliciting work related to the proposed ballpark stadium and redevelopment of the Historic Gas Plant District. 

Rays Stadium Co. LLC is seeking a qualified firm to provide professional design-build services for one or two event parking garages to serve a new Major League Baseball stadium, according to a March 12th solicitation notice. 

The garages will replace existing surface parking lots and will be operational during the 2025 MLB season to provide parking for Rays games and other events at Tropicana Field.

The Rays and Hines, one of the largest privately held real estate investors and managers in the world, want to build an affordable housing building downtown St. Pete.

The group, which was selected to redevelop the 86-acre Historic Gas Plant District site, has submitted an unsolicited proposal to lease a 0.58-acre property at 1659 3rd Avenue South from the City of St. Pete with plans to construct an affordable apartment building.

The parcel is adjacent to the $6.5 billion Historic Gas Plant District but was not included in the site. This building is in addition to the proposed Historic Gas Plant District redevelopment.e

The Tampa Bay Rays have reached an agreement to build a new baseball stadium in downtown St. Petersburg, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

An official announcement is expected on Tuesday.

The new stadium would be constructed as part of the redevelopment of the 86-acre Historic Gas Plant District, where the current stadium resides, and open for the 2028 season.

Last year, the City of St. Petersburg published a request for proposals (RFP) for the Historic Gas Plant District. The Rays submitted a proposal for the site in partnership with Hines, one of the largest privately held real estate investors and managers in the world.