The St. Petersburg City Council voted Thursday to oppose choosing a developer for the Historic Gas Plant District before planning what to prioritize for the 86-acre site first.
The council’s vote was a warning signal to Mayor Ken Welch, who is eager to start development on the 86-acre site ahead of his potential reelection. Since the start of his term, he has made clear that his priority is to make good by the predominantly Black residents of Gas Plant district that once stood on the Tropicana Field property.
Welch wrote a memo to the council Wednesday doubling down on his intention to move forward, but the council’s 6-2 vote may foreshadow a lack of support for any deal he brings to the council, which has the final say.
Council member Brandi Gabbard, who said she will run for mayor this year, authored the non-bindingresolution. It “expresses opposition” to city administration moving forward with any development selection before independent experts create a planning framework for the site.
“This is not about slowing down. This is about leveling up,” Gabbard said. “We should be handling this as the world class city that we know we are and can continue to be.”
Council members Deborah Figgs-Sanders and Copley Gerdes voted no.
Community activists, many of whom were against the stadium and redevelopment deal with the Tampa Bay Rays and developer Hines that fell apart last year, have urged the council for months to adopt a planning framework guided by experts before choosing a developer.
The council’s vote happened two days after the city’s deadline for submittingproposals for the Gas Plant. Rather than issuing a new request for proposals, as Welch did in 2022, he opened a 30-day window in response to an unsolicited proposal submitted in October by Ark Invest founder Cathie Wood, developer Casey Ellison and Horus construction.
St. Petersburg received nine proposals in total. Among them are pitches by Blake Investment Partners and Related Group, which offers $275 million to buy 58 net acres, and a proposal by Will Conroy of Backstreets Capital, Alex Schapira formerly of Hines and consultant Anddrikk Frazier who worked on the Rays and Hines’ deal. That group, Foundation Vision Partners, offered to prepare a master plan and build roads and sewers for the site, creating development-ready parcels for the city.
Before the council vote on Thursday, residents spoke both for and against the council’s resolution.
Mark Ferguson, owner of the famed Ferg’s Sports Bar across the street from Tropicana Field, said Ark Ellison Horus’ bid checks all of the boxes. He noted that it preserves the option for a new Rays stadium, should an estimated $2.3 billion stadium deal at Hillsborough College not work out. The Ark Ellison Horus proposal, however, repeatedly bashes stadium-centric development, which the Rays’ new owners are seeking in Tampa.
“I totally 100% believe they’re going to stub their toe and we have to be ready for them when they come back to us and listen to them,” Ferguson said.
Robin Davidov, speaking on the behalf of League of Women Voters of the St. Petersburg Area, spoke in support of Gabbard’s resolution. She is involved with the Home Runs Matter group that was against the Rays and Hines deal and supports planning the site ahead of the selection of any developer.
“We cannot, in good faith, ask a developer to write the master plan for a project they intend to profit from,” Davidov said. “Allowing them to lead the planning process creates an inherent conflict of interest. The city must lead.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.