We\u2019re asking thought leaders, business people and creatives to talk about the upcoming new year and give us catalyzing ideas for making St. Pete a better place to live. What should our city look like? What are their hopes, their plans, their problem-solving ideas? This is Catalyze 2026.<\/p>\n
\u200bThe former Coquina Key Plaza became a debris management site following Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Less than a year later, it housed Christmas floats.<\/p>\n
\u200bMayor Ken Welch said the staging area for a recent holiday parade showcased St. Petersburg\u2019s resiliency and progress following a devastating 2024 storm season. He believes 2025 showed how \u201cwe\u2019ve faced some tough challenges, but we\u2019ve come through, and we\u2019re getting better every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u200bA local development firm will soon transform the beleaguered plaza<\/a> into a \u201cbeautiful\u201d mixed-use development with affordable housing, and Welch eagerly anticipates several other long-awaited projects coming to fruition in 2026. Perhaps none are more monumental than the Historic Gas Plant District\u2019s redevelopment.<\/p>\n \u200b\u201cI\u2019m excited, quite frankly, about our position today \u2013 where we own the land, where we are in a stronger position,\u201d Welch said of the area surrounding Tropicana Field. \u201cThe one proposal that we have so far actually increases the amount of affordable housing, increases the minority participation.<\/p>\n \u200b\u201cSo, it\u2019s actually stronger than what we had with Hines and the (Tampa Bay) Rays.\u201d<\/p>\n \u200bARK Investment Management, Ellison Development and Horus Construction submitted a $6.8 billion<\/a> redevelopment proposal in October. Welch\u2019s administration is currently considering the bid and will formally open a 30-day window<\/a> for additional offers Jan. 4.<\/p>\n \u200bHe has made it his mission to help fulfill 40-year-old promises of economic revitalization to the Black community that once called the Gas Plant home. Welch remains undeterred by the Rays exiting an arduously negotiated deal in March \u2013 and undaunted by the magnitude of a decision he will make in early 2026.<\/p>\n \u200b\u201cIt\u2019s a privilege to do that,\u201d Welch said. \u201cThe focus hasn\u2019t changed from those principles that we laid out \u2026 the jobs, the housing, the opportunities, the shared progress and honoring those promises. So, that is a promise we will fulfill.\u201d<\/p>\n \u200bHe pledged that residents will also see movement on several other important initiatives in the new year. Those include Pelican Place, which will provide 40 new affordable homeownership opportunities in an underserved area of South St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n \u200bHabitat for Humanity Tampa Bay Gulfside recently broke ground<\/a> on the townhome community. Welch noted that the former city-owned site has \u201clong been just an open parcel.\u201d<\/p>\n \u200bThe historic Manhattan Casino is receiving $4.8 million in upgrades<\/a> and will soon reopen as an event space on the 22nd Street South (Deuces) corridor. Welch said residents on the city\u2019s west side can also look forward to construction commencing on the Science Center<\/a>, another facility with a rich history, in January.<\/p>\n \u200b\u201cThose are areas of focus for us that we\u2019re going to see significant progress on,\u201d he added. \u201cCertainly on resiliency.\u201d<\/p>\n \u200bWelch noted the city is investing $33 million<\/a> into the Shore Acres Flood Mitigation Project. That is one of many planned throughout St. Petersburg that will address increasing and evolving environmental threats.<\/p>\n \u200bStorm victims should also begin receiving checks<\/a> from the $160 million Sunrise St. Pete program in the new year. Officials continue waiting for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to offer its final approval, and Welch said they are \u201cvery optimistic that\u2019s going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n \u200b\u201cAnd later in the year, we\u2019re going to ask voters to invest in SPAR (St. Pete Agile Resiliency) funding,\u201d he said. \u201cTo fund $600 million in stormwater and water projects to make us the resilient city that we need to be.\u201d<\/p>\n \u200bVoters will decide in November whether the city issues general obligation bonds<\/a> to support those initiatives. Many council members prefer that<\/a> financing mechanism over continuously increasing utility rates.<\/p>\n \u200b\u201cSo, I\u2019m excited on all those fronts,\u201d Welch said. \u201cThere are many more that would take too long to name, but in each of our Pillars for Progress, we\u2019ve got significant projects going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n \u200bBehind-the-scenes work on tap for 2026 includes updating technological systems that affect \u201ceverything from billing to permitting.\u201d Welch said a city task force will also explore how to best utilize artificial intelligence (AI) in local government.<\/p>\n \u200bHe believes AI \u201ccan be a game-changer for us, in terms of how efficient we are and how we interact.\u201d However, Welch also stressed the importance of first understanding the rapidly advancing technology.<\/p>\n \u200bThe mayor wants constituents to know that fostering inclusive progress remains a priority. Welch understands that housing affordability, \u201ca pillar for us since day one,\u201d is a top concern for many residents.<\/p>\n \u200bHe also realizes that many people focus on the luxury condominiums rising downtown and the increasingly expensive apartments popping up throughout the city. However, Welch noted that hundreds of subsidized units are on the way or have recently opened.<\/p>\n \u200b\u201cIt\u2019s not a zero-sum game,\u201d he said. \u201cWe do need that market-rate development, but that doesn\u2019t mean that we\u2019ve forgotten about the affordable side of the house. We need both.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We\u2019re asking thought leaders, business people and creatives to talk about the upcoming new year and give us…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":100889,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":{"0":"post-100888","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-st-petersburg","8":"tag-st-pete","9":"tag-st-pete-headlines","10":"tag-st-pete-news","11":"tag-st-petersburg","12":"tag-st-petersburg-headlines","13":"tag-st-petersburg-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}