Historic week could be ahead for City of St. Pete with Rays stadium, Gas Plant District development votes

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - To St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch, the renderings of a new ballpark and bustling neighborhood are proof that the dream is closer than ever.

FOX 13 asked if he believes city council will have the votes to approve the agreement between the city and the Tampa Bay Rays to build a new stadium.

"I do believe that," the mayor said.

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That's because the city and the Rays have fine-tuned their epic agreements to build a 30,000-seat stadium, $6 billion worth of apartments, offices, stores and bars, and features like green spaces, concert halls and a Black history museum.

"If you can see how this benefits our community for the next 30 years brings certainty to the whole issue of our only major league sports franchise in the city of St. Pete and brings thousands of jobs and honors the commitment to the historic gas plant, there will not be another deal as good as this one," he said.

After several rounds of feedback from councilors, the city released an agreement that had thirty changes to it, including that council must approve reductions to the 1,250 affordable housing units, that 15 percent of all work hours be done by those who are disadvantaged, that there be a fresh food grocery store, and more firmly tying stadium funding to the development of the rest of the land.

"One of the reasons that we've delayed this a couple of times," he said, "was to make absolutely sure that our legal staff and our outside counsel were comfortable that we've had all the protections that we need built in."

Council cast a preliminary 5-3 vote a month ago, with Richie Floyd one of the dissenters.

While he says there is some good in the plan, he's upset the city is pitching in $287.5 million in bonds to pay for the stadium, without a direct revenue stream in return.

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The Rays keep it all, which the city insists is fair, because taxpayers will no longer be responsible for insurance or repairs.

"We have neighborhoods that are flooding and child hunger rising in the city," said Floyd. "And the cost of living (is) going up. Is this the right thing for us to be doing?"

The mayor counters that the Rays are paying for more than half of the stadium, plus they are responsible for cost overruns and any future capital improvements – feathers in the city's cap he says were once unthinkable.

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"Not many folks would have believed me, but that's exactly the deal that we have."

There is a Committee of a Whole meeting scheduled for Tuesday, where the city and the Rays will present their plan.

Councilors can ask final questions.

Thursday is potentially the biggest vote in the city's history, during what is expected to be a marathon meeting that will include potentially hours of public comment.

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