ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — There has been a lot of excitement at City Hall over the new Tampa Bay Rays stadium plans.
But the city and the county have not set dates yet to even vote on the agreement. And that's needed before construction can begin.
What You Need To Know
- St. Pete City Council discussed Rays stadium and Gas Plant development Thursday
- City officials and city council discussed details of plans and costs of the project
- While time becomes key to get the project started, some still question the costs and best use of the Tropicana Field site
- PREVIOUS STORY: 'Rays announce stadium deal'; and details of the Trop redevelopment and costs
St. Pete City Council members discussed the planned redevelopment of Tropicana Field on Thursday.
On Thursday, city officials went through a 113-page presentation designed to give council members more details about the new stadium and redevelopment plan, including price tags and breakdowns of how money is being distributed across different aspects of the plan.
The new stadium would be part of the huge Gas Plant District redevelopment and end years of negotiations between the Rays and the city. It also would end the threat the Rays would pack up and leave Florida.
But some are questioning at what expense?
Costs for the ballpark would be $1.3 billion, with the team contribution expected to be about $700 million and the city and county paying the rest.
“The land is valued at something and it’s given to the Rays. The ad valorem that’s lost for 30 years is also something the city’s giving up and is giving to the Rays. That’s nowhere in this presentation,” District 4 council member Lisset Hanewicz said at Thursday's meeting.
In response to those concerns, project leaders said they believe a new stadium is a sure bet to attract development and create jobs for residents.
Rev. Manual Sykes, the Pastor of Bethel Community Baptist Church in St. Pete, told Spectrum News that the money and land for the stadium could solve one of the city’s biggest problems right now: affordable housing.
"It would solve the housing crisis,” Sykes said. “We have 86 acres. Even if you gave the Rays 16 that they need for their stadium, you'd have 70 acres plus a couple hundred million dollars to solve the crisis, to underwrite affordable housing and workforce housing."
Sykes also said the land the city would be selling to the Rays would be given away with a big discount.
Meanwhile, time is of the essence.
The Rays contract at Tropicana Field runs through the 2027 season.
In order for the team to be in the new ballpark for Opening Day 2028, work on the planning, designing and implementation of infrastructure needs to begin soon in order to begin construction by November 2024.