St. Pete mayor opts for Rays/Hines proposal to redevelop Tropicana Field site

Using the analogy of an accepted marriage proposal, St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch on Monday announced  he has chosen the Tampa Bay Rays and their Houston-based development partner, Hines, to remake the 86-acre Tropicana Field site in downtown St. Pete.

The property is also known as the Historic Gas Plant District because of the thriving Black community that was razed to make way for the baseball stadium, and along with keeping the Rays in St. Pete, socioeconomic equity was a key consideration for Welch, who grew up in the Gas Plant District and witnessed firsthand the displacement of Black residents and business.

“We are engaged today and are moving toward a wedding,” Welch said in a news conference following his State of the City address at St. Pete City Hall, adding that he expects the Rays’ flirtations with Tampa to end immediately now that the team has been selected to handle a transformational development project that is expected to have a construction value of $4 billion. “I don't expect those conversations to proceed with Tampa unless our engagement breaks up for some reason.”