July 31, 2024

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

July 31, 2024/ Veronica Brezina

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.

July 17, 2024

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

July 17, 2024/ Veronica Brezina

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.

July 05, 2024

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

July 05, 2024/ Veronica Brezina

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.

June 14, 2024

$1.3 billion Rays stadium preliminarily approved by St. Pete City Council, final vote set for July

June 14, 2024/ Veronica Brezina

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.