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St. Pete mayor shares vision for Tropicana Field site
The City of St. Petersburg continues the process of picking a developer to reshape the land Tropicana Field currently sits on.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - After reviewing hours of feedback from the community, St. Pete leaders have formally begun the process to solicit new ideas on how to best redevelop the Tropicana Field site. This time, proposals must include a baseball stadium.
In June, St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch scrapped plans from two developers and went back to the drawing board over the future of the 86-acre site. The mayor held three in-person meetings to get input from the community.
Friday, the city formally announced the – second – Request for Proposal process had begun. The previous RFP called for plans with and without the stadium., but, this time around, 17.4 acres must be carved out for a "state-of-the-art" baseball stadium.
"Based on the community’s need for clarity on the question of the Tampa Bay Rays’ future in St. Petersburg, it is imperative that proposals provide certainty on the availability of space for Major League Baseball on the site for decades to come," according to a news release from the city.
View of Tropicana Field from SkyFOX Drone
The proposals must also fulfill a broken promise to residents who once resided where Tropicana Field currently stands.
That area used to be home to hundreds of Black residents, living in the Gas Plant District, but were forced to relocate as city officials in the 1980s chose their neighborhood to build a stadium and attract an MLB team.
"While the move brought our city the Tampa Bay Rays, then known as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, residents and businesses were forced to relocate with the promise of jobs, opportunity and equitable development which did not materialize," according to a statement from the city. "With this RFP, our city now has the opportunity to fulfill those unrealized promises."
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Previous coverage: Community weighs in on future of Tropicana Field
In June, St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch announced the city will ditch the ongoing redevelopment plans to start the process from scratch. The first of three community meetings were held to let residents provide their thoughts.
The Tampa Bay Rays have been playing at the Trop since 1998, but their lease with the venue is up in 2027.
In addition, the proposals must include attainable housing, equitable business opportunities, office space, meeting space, open space, and an economic development "that benefits all."
Additional information on the RFP process can be found here.
By Sept. 12, a pre-proposal meeting will be held with possible developers. The city plans to follow-up with local residents and conduct an internal review of the submitted proposals.
In December, the strengths and weaknesses of each proposal will be presented to Mayor Welch, and he plans to select a developer by the end of the year.