ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — While both Rays and Yankees fans watched Saturday’s away game at Ferg’s, St. Pete resident Terrence Anderson is excited a new stadium may be coming and hopes it brings more people to games.

"The stadium is old and hardly anybody ever goes over there," he said. "So hopefully with this new stadium and the shops that they have, it'll encourage people to come out and watch these games." 

St. Petersburg City Council members voted 5-3 to help fund the $6.5 billion project.

Not only is it meant to build a new stadium but also revitalize the Historic Gas Plant District with features like office space, new jobs and 1,200 units of affordable housing.

Ferg's Managing Partner Jake Ferguson said he’s been keeping close tabs on all the developments surrounding a new stadium.

"Since 1992, we've grown from a small market team but we keep winning these past 10 years and it's just turning into something great that we want to continue," he said.  

However, not everyone wanted the vote to go through including Council Member Lisset Hanewicz.

She raised concerns about the amount of public money being spent.

The city's share would be $417.5 million.

 "So, they are not really paying $50 million in community benefits - we are, yet they are providing those benefits with conditions throughout a 30-year term with a lot of ambiguity still within those contractual provisions," she said.

The new stadium isn't yet a guarantee but the city council vote was a big step forward.

Next up, the Pinellas County Commission has to approve its portion of the funding deal.

The contribution would be more than $300 million and the money would come from tourist tax dollars.