Tropicana Field Redevelopment

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.

Six months after restarting the request for proposal (RFP) process for the redevelopment of the Historic Gas Plant District, St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch has announced the selection of a joint bid from Hines and the Tampa Bay Rays to redevelop the 86-acre site.

In his annual State of the City address, which took place on the steps of City Hall, Mayor Welch announced the selection of Hines’ submission by commending the team for having the depth and expertise to execute on a multi-billion-dollar generational project of this scale.

He also noted the team’s commitment to community outreach and to the equitable development of the site.

Last Friday was the deadline for developers to submit proposals for the 86-acre Historic Gas Plant District redevelopment. Yesterday, all four proposals were published to the City of St. Pete’s website.

Understand that each of these proposals are massive, absolute tomes clocking in at hundreds of pages a piece. Feel free to read the entire proposal here, but don’t say we didn’t warn you!

Lucky for you, we’ve spent hours upon hours combing through each proposal, so you don’t have to. And we are here to provide you with the Cliffs Notes.

This morning, the City of St. Pete released a new request for proposal for the redevelopment of the 86-acre Tropicana Field site, which is now being referred to by its historical name—the Gas Plant District site.

In June, Mayor Ken Welch recommended the process re-start after not selecting two finalists – Midtown or Sugar Hill – that were narrowed down under the previous mayoral administration.

The decision to re-start the request for proposal process for the redevelopment of Tropicana Field did not come lightly and follows a 15-year journey that began in 2007 when the Tampa Bay Rays announced a proposal to build a new stadium on the downtown St. Pete waterfront.

Today, Mayor Ken Welch stood behind a podium on the corner of 16th Street and 5th Avenue South under the 175 overpass to provide a huge update on the Tropicana Field redevelopment saga.

The announcement had been teased for months as the final decision on which proposal Mayor Welch would recommend – Midtown or Sugar Hill.

But instead, in front of a crowd of city leaders, stakeholders, and citizens, Mayor Welch announced that he will restart the process.

After a year and a half long process, Mayor Rick Kriseman announced this afternoon his selection of Midtown Development to helm the 86-acre Tropicana Field redevelopment.

In July 2020, the City released a Request for Proposal (RFP) which sought out groups seeking to be the master developer for the property.

In the RFP, the City outlined their desire to partner with a development team to establish a mixed-use neighborhood that recognizes the diverse and rich culture of St. Petersburg while also implementing principles of Smart Cities, sustainability, and a healthy community.

Yesterday, the City of St. Petersburg and Mayor Kriseman released seven submissions of the Request for Proposal (RFP) for the redevelopment of the Tropicana Field site in downtown St. Pete.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Mayor Kriseman also reported on recent discussions the City has had with the Rays. Owner Stu Sternberg had pitched a plan to Kriseman in which city would transfer 50 acres situated to the east of Booker Creek to the team at no charge.

Sternberg also requested that the Rays retain 50% of the development proceeds for the remaining 36 acres located west of Booker Creek.

"If we were to accept this, we would have to reject all of the responses to the RFPs," Kriseman said. "Of even greater concern is the moment the city turns control over to the Rays, the city loses all ability and authority to ensure the community’s voice is heard."

Today the City of St. Petersburg officially kicked off planning for the public/private redevelopment of the Tropicana Field site with the release of a Request for Proposals (RFP). The RFP is seeking submissions from developers to redevelop an 86-acre site in Downtown St. Pete which is currently home to the Tampa Bay Rays.

For years, city and county leaders have touted the site as a once in a generation opportunity to redevelop a large, publicly-owned tract of land in densely populated Pinellas County. Downtown St. Pete’s revitalization over the past decade has only made the site’s redevelopment potential even more attractive.

In 2017 the City contracted planning firm HKS to develop two vision concepts for the site – one with a Rays stadium and one without it. The plans are comparable but with different demand drivers and uses. These vision plans will likely guide developers in creating their redevelopment submissions.