{"id":325974,"date":"2026-07-01T14:18:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T14:18:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/325974\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T14:18:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T14:18:31","slug":"ken-welchs-tropicana-field-redevelopment-announcement-could-reshape-st-petes-future-and-his-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/325974\/","title":{"rendered":"Ken Welch\u2019s Tropicana Field redevelopment announcement could reshape St. Pete\u2019s future, and his campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"

St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch<\/a> is set to announce which development proposal will move forward for the 86-acre redevelopment site surrounding Tropicana Field<\/a>, known as the Historic Gas Plant District<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The city has not publicly confirmed the selection. Peter Schorsch<\/a> of Florida Politics first reported that Welch has chosen The Burg Bid<\/a>, led by Blake Investment Partners and developer Thompson Whitney Blake. Colleen Wright<\/a> of the Tampa Bay Times reported later confirmed the selection, along with a Pinellas County Housing Authority pitch for affordable senior housing on a small portion of the site, per insight from the St. Petersburg City Council.<\/p>\n

Welch is expected to announce the selection at a 9 a.m. press conference at Campbell Park on Thursday. The decision marks the next major step in St. Petersburg\u2019s renewed effort to redevelop the land without the Tampa Bay Rays after the team walked away from a previous deal that would have redeveloped the area into a mixed-use district built around a new ballpark.<\/p>\n

The district itself was once home to a predominantly Black neighborhood that was razed to make way for Tropicana Field. Welch has vowed to deliver what was once promised to the community in the form of economic redevelopment even without the team\u2019s involvement.<\/p>\n

The Burg Bid<\/a> offers a plan anchored by approximately $8 billion in development and 3,600 affordable and workforce housing units. Proposal reviewers highlighted the development team\u2019s track record while noting questions about economic development and job creation details.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The decision also comes just weeks before voters begin weighing Welch\u2019s future in City Hall, with the Gas Plant District looming as one of the defining issues in the St. Petersburg Mayor\u2019s race. Welch has drawn significant scrutiny over the blown deal, but he has cast blame on the team\u2019s previous ownership while on the campaign trail.<\/p>\n

Other mayoral candidates have all voiced opposition to Welch\u2019s expedience, including City Council Member Brandi Gabbard<\/a> \u2014 who has previously helped sway Council members to vote in effort to have Welch pump the brakes<\/a> on a finalized decision. She has called for further study to understand the best use of the property, and has questioned the idea of selling the land to a single developer.<\/p>\n

Although new Rays ownership is currently negotiating with Hillsborough officials for a new ballpark in Tampa, former Gov. Charlie Crist<\/a> \u2014 the fundraising leader in the mayoral race \u2014 has also called on the Rays to reconsider St. Petersburg<\/a> as a long-term home for the team.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Proposal reviewers previously coalesced around three leading redevelopment teams: The Burg Bid, ARK-Ellison-Horus, and Foundation Vision Partners. A smaller proposal from the Pinellas County Housing Authority, focused on affordable senior housing on a single parcel, was also recommended for consideration with the idea that it could be included as part of any larger vision for the property.<\/p>\n

ARK-Ellison-Horus pitched a roughly $6.8 billion redevelopment plan with more than 3,700 housing units, affordable housing, an innovation and research hub, and an estimated 14,000 permanent jobs. Reviewers praised the proposal\u2019s scope and alignment with city goals, while raising questions about infrastructure funding and a long buildout timeline.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Foundation Vision Partners proposed a different model, with the city retaining more control over the land, building core infrastructure and selling parcels over time to multiple developers. Reviewers noted that approach could give St. Petersburg more flexibility, but also carries uncertainty over market conditions, infrastructure costs and long-term delivery.<\/p>\n

Whatever Welch selects will not be the final word<\/a>. Under the city\u2019s timeline, the proposal is expected to be vetted by the Community Benefits Advisory Council<\/a> and City Council before the Mayor and city staff negotiate a term sheet and contract for Council approval.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Ed. note:\u00a0Michelle Todd Schorsch\u00a0is the Chair of St. Pete Shines, a political committee backing Crist for St. Petersburg Mayor. Todd Schorsch is married to Schorsch, the publisher of Florida Politics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch is set to announce which development proposal will move forward for the 86-acre…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":142360,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[3300,3347,97536,13644,2346,202,204,203,199,201,200,3815,70480,8125],"class_list":["post-325974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-brandi-gabbard","tag-charlie-crist","tag-community-benefits-advisory-council","tag-historic-gas-plant-district","tag-ken-welch","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-rays","tag-trop","tag-tropicana-field"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325974","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=325974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325974\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=325974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=325974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=325974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}