{"id":114875,"date":"2026-01-12T11:23:33","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T11:23:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/114875\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T11:23:33","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T11:23:33","slug":"national-firms-back-6-8b-gas-plant-district-proposal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/114875\/","title":{"rendered":"National firms back $6.8B Gas Plant District proposal"},"content":{"rendered":"

National construction and engineering firms have submitted letters of interest to work with ARK Ellison Horus on its $6.8B proposal to redevelop St. Petersburg\u2019s Historic Gas Plant District<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Local housing and health organizations have also stepped forward to support the City of St. Petersburg\u2019s evaluation of competing plans.<\/p>\n

The redevelopment site spans 95.5 acres, which includes Tropicana Field.<\/p>\n

READ: TAMPA BAY BUSINESS NEWS<\/a><\/p>\n

ARK Ellison Horus said companies, including Moss, Jacobs and Kimley-Horn, have formally expressed interest in collaborating on the project.<\/p>\n

Public-sector and community organizations have also submitted letters.<\/p>\n

Those groups include the Pinellas County Housing Authority, the St. Petersburg Housing Authority and Evara Health.<\/p>\n

The letters are not binding agreements.<\/p>\n

They signal intent to collaborate if the city selects ARK Ellison Horus\u2019 proposal.<\/p>\n

A locally led team with national reach<\/p>\n

ARK Ellison Horus, LLC is a locally led development team formed by ARK Investment Management, Ellison Development<\/a> and Horus Construction.<\/p>\n

The group said it is assembling a mix of national firms and local organizations to deliver a project it describes as grounded in restorative justice, economic opportunity and long-term resilience.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis level of interest reinforces the strength of the proposal and the seriousness of our commitment to getting this right,\u201d said Casey Ellison<\/a>, CEO of Ellison Development.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Moss acquires Ellison Construction, deepening Tampa Bay footprint<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cFrom day one, our focus has been on assembling the very best partners to help bring the full Gas Plant District vision to life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cathie Wood, CEO and CIO of ARK Invest, framed the project as a long-term economic investment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Gas Plant District is an opportunity to demonstrate how innovation-led investment can drive durable economic growth,\u201d Wood said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen innovation is embedded into the fabric of a district, it doesn\u2019t just transform a site. It can reshape a city\u2019s economic trajectory for decades to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who has expressed interest<\/p>\n

The development team highlighted a range of private firms and public agencies that have submitted letters.<\/p>\n

Moss, a national construction firm, has agreed to serve as a general contractor for portions of the project if the proposal is selected.<\/p>\n

Jacobs expressed interest in serving as a technical consultant.<\/p>\n

The firm would bring experience in large-scale urban development, infrastructure planning and environmental remediation.<\/p>\n

READ: ST. PETERSBURG BUSINESS NEWS<\/a><\/p>\n

Kimley-Horn has signaled interest in infrastructure planning, transportation, utilities and site engineering.<\/p>\n

On the housing side, the Pinellas County Housing Authority signed a letter of intent to collaborate on affordable housing.<\/p>\n

That commitment is contingent on ARK Ellison Horus being awarded the project.<\/p>\n

The St. Petersburg Housing Authority submitted a letter of interest tied to affordable rental housing for seniors, veterans and individuals with disabilities.<\/p>\n

Evara Health expressed interest in locating a medical facility within the district.<\/p>\n

The organization focuses on serving uninsured, underinsured and Medicaid patients.<\/p>\n

\u201cProjects of this scale only succeed when they are built through true partnership,\u201d said Jonathan Graham, president of Horus Construction.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis collaboration allows us to deliver not just buildings, but long-term opportunity and shared prosperity for St. Petersburg.\u201d<\/p>\n

What the plan includes<\/p>\n

The Gas Plant District<\/a> proposal is structured as a multi-phase redevelopment.<\/p>\n

The buildout would span roughly 17 years.<\/p>\n

The plan includes thousands of housing units integrated throughout the district.<\/p>\n

More than 1,900 units would be designated as affordable, workforce and senior housing.<\/p>\n

READ: TAMPA BAY TOP COMPANIES<\/a><\/p>\n

Other elements include an innovation ecosystem with research space, labs and conference facilities.<\/p>\n

The proposal also calls for cultural anchors.<\/p>\n

Those include the Woodson African American Museum of Florida and a new performance theater.<\/p>\n

More than 30% of the site would be dedicated to parks and open space.<\/p>\n

Projected economic impact<\/p>\n

An independent analysis cited by the development team projects more than $1.2B in annual economic impact.<\/p>\n

The estimate reaches nearly $28B over 30 years.<\/p>\n

READ: TAMPA RETAIL & HOSPITALITY NEWS<\/a><\/p>\n

The project is expected to create close to 20,000 jobs.<\/p>\n

The proposal also includes workforce development and education initiatives.<\/p>\n

Those programs are designed to prepare local residents for jobs created by the district.<\/p>\n

What happens next<\/p>\n

The City of St. Petersburg is reviewing redevelopment proposals for the Historic Gas Plant District<\/a>.<\/p>\n

ARK Ellison Horus said it will continue engaging with public leaders, community stakeholders and potential partners during the evaluation process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is about more than assembling a project team,\u201d Ellison said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about building the right coalition to deliver on a vision that honors history, strengthens the community and positions St. Petersburg for long-term success.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stay Informed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"National construction and engineering firms have submitted letters of interest to work with ARK Ellison Horus on its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":114876,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[1571,558,5752,4364,1127,2152,7143,178,25136,31740,3741,12632,960,596,202,204,203,199,201,200,1703,52537],"class_list":["post-114875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-affordable-housing","tag-business","tag-commercial-real-estate","tag-community-impact","tag-construction","tag-development","tag-economic-development","tag-economic-growth","tag-ellison-development","tag-gas-plant-district","tag-infrastructure","tag-innovation","tag-jobs","tag-pinellas-county","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-tampa-bay-business","tag-tampa-bay-business-news-and-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114875","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=114875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114875\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}