PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — St. Petersburg city leaders met Tuesday to discuss the latest changes to the Historic Gas Plant District redevelopment project.

It was the last step before the city council takes a final vote on the $6.5 billion project, which would transform Tropicana Field into a major new mixed-use development.

City officials and the Rays worked to iron out any remaining disagreements during Tuesday’s meeting.

This was the final opportunity to review all the agreements and learn how council members’ feedback had been incorporated into the redevelopment of 86 acres where Tropicana Field sits now.

For Mayor Ken Welch, it’s been a long time coming,

“I think we’ll look back on and see this was the next step in a very long journey," said Welch. "Almost four decades to really realize the promises of the Historic Gas Plant. Great feedback from council. As many of them said, we incorporated a lot of their suggestions, made the agreement stronger. And I’m ready now to present that to the council for a vote in two days,” Welch said.

One by one, during the question-and-answer period, council members asked for clarity on a dozen agreements with major changes and additions.

What followed were several hours of going back and forth between the Welch administration and Rays-Hines.

“I was really proud of how well our team, in particular our experts, handled some really challenging questions and some really well informed and thoughtful city council people," Tampa Bay Rays team President Brian Auld said. "I think we put some minds at ease around our intentions regarding things like sustainability, consistency, and our desire to complete all the affordable housing that we intend to. And so I’m optimistic on Thursday, but we’ve been at this a very long time, so we won’t be counting any chickens before they hatch.” 

Some council members still have big concerns about the numbers, mainly revolving around affordable and workforce housing.

“My biggest sticking point is, as an advocate and a champion when we talked for years about gentrification, and one of the causes was informing homeowners to not sell grandma’s house. And so, I’m disappointed that we’re in a position now where we’re actually going to be selling, you know, these acres that have historically been owned by the community, by the city, and then selling it at a value that is severely undervalued, in my opinion,” District 7 council member John Muhammad said.

Still, Muhammad says it’s time for the council to make a decision and move forward.

A simple majority is needed to pass the proposal, five city council votes, to make this a reality, along with final approval from Pinellas County commissioners.

Their vote is set for July 30.

The revised plan now calls for a supermarket and daycare, as well as city council approval of any reductions in the number of affordable housing units.

Council member Richie Flody expressed disappointment about subsidies and said there are no guarantees.

“If we’re having to say, ‘OK, we’ve got this amount of money set aside for all these housing deals we’ve entered into through the Historic Gas Plant project,’ does that potentially jeopardize other housing deals that we might have been able to enter into?” he asked.

Mayor Ken Welch responded by saying, “We plan to do much more with housing. We don’t plan to take our foot off the gas just based on the Historic Gas Plant. There’s a lot more we want to do to find additional resources, find additional partnerships for affordable housing, so I think it’s definitely additive.”

The city narrowly voted 5-3 in favor of the project during the first vote last month. The final vote is scheduled on Thursday.

The St. Pete Tenants Union is calling the deal a handout and wants city council members to vote no on the new stadium and redevelopment plans.