St. Petersburg receives four bids to redevelop Tropicana Field site

Four developers, including the Tampa Bay Rays organization and its partner, Hines, have submitted bids to redevelop the 86-acre Tropicana Field site in downtown St. Petersburg.

Proposals were due by 10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 2, and, as expected, Sugar Hill Community Partners, one of the finalists of the previous request for proposal process under former St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman, submitted a plan.

The other bids came from entities under the names 50 Plus 1 Sports and Redevelopment Associates, according to a statement from the city. The Rays hinted in October that they would respond to the RFP when they asked for the deadline to be pushed to Dec. 2. If nothing else, the team's bid is a sign of renewed interest in downtown St. Pete after a series of unsuccessful flirtations with Tampa and Montreal.