{"id":86192,"date":"2025-12-17T02:58:45","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T02:58:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/86192\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T02:58:45","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T02:58:45","slug":"investors-and-developers-move-forward-with-project-near-tropicana-field-with-or-without-rays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/86192\/","title":{"rendered":"Investors and developers move forward with project near Tropicana Field \u2014 with or without Rays"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – As the Tampa Bay Rays\u2019 future<\/a> in St. Petersburg<\/a> remains uncertain, some investors and developers said they aren\u2019t waiting for an answer.<\/p>\n

Out-of-town developers and real estate firms are continuing to pour money into St. Pete, betting on the city\u2019s growth regardless of whether the Rays stay or go.<\/p>\n

READ: Tropicana Field\u2019s roof repair completed ahead of schedule<\/a><\/p>\n

“The deal does not depend on that,” said Diego Bonet, the managing partner at Miami-based development firm LD&D. “That would be the cherry on top.”<\/p>\n

What they’re saying:<\/p>\n

Bonet\u2019s firm is moving forward with plans to build a mixed-use, luxury multifamily development called “Gallery Haus” on 17th Street South \u2014 directly across from Tropicana Field.<\/p>\n

“It’s a 254-unit multifamily high-rise development that’s also going to have some ground floor commercial component, about 7,000 square feet of ground floor retail,” said Bonet.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

MORE: Deadline extended for Historic Gas Plant District proposals<\/a><\/p>\n

While a new stadium deal for the Rays could have boosted momentum, Bonet said LD&D never tied its investment to the team\u2019s future. Developers point to St. Pete\u2019s growing job market, local flair, expanding arts scene and younger population as key reasons they\u2019re investing now \u2014 even as questions about the city\u2019s sports future remain unresolved.<\/p>\n

“You get a lot of these really cool breweries, the very cool galleries, you know, art shops. And we think that’s a neighborhood that is very much gonna take off in the medium to long run,” Bonet said.<\/p>\n

The development will primarily feature luxury units, though Bonet said the firm has not ruled out including some affordable housing components \u2014 something they have done in the past. He said that increasing overall housing supply, regardless of price point, can help ease market pressures.<\/p>\n

“Ultimately, what higher rent prices signal is a shortage of housing in the market,” Bonet said. “So if you deliver, whether it\u2019s luxury housing or affordable housing, that helps alleviate the crisis a little bit.”<\/p>\n

READ: Potential Rays owner considering HCC as stadium site<\/a><\/p>\n

Dig deeper:<\/p>\n

Dallas-based real estate investment firm 90TEN recently acquired three properties along Central Avenue, citing the corridor\u2019s unique character and long-term potential.<\/p>\n

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“I think there\u2019s only a few streets in America that feel like Central Avenue,” said Tripp Russ, the managing partner at 90TEN. “It has that charming walkability factor that creates really special dynamics within the retail markets that we focus on.”<\/p>\n

Russ said the firm isn\u2019t coming in to make drastic changes to the area.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Every neighborhood that we go into, it\u2019s really important to us that we do right on behalf of that neighborhood,” Russ said. “Within this asset that we bought, there are a lot of great local operators in here. I hope they stay with us forever.”<\/p>\n

Like many residents and business owners, Russ said his firm has closely followed the ongoing stadium negotiations and the back-and-forth over the Rays\u2019 future. Still, he said Central Avenue\u2019s success does not hinge on the team.<\/p>\n

PREVIOUS: St. Pete city leaders return to square one as they vote unanimously to move on from Rays deal<\/a><\/p>\n

“Do we love the Tampa Bay Rays being here? Of course,” Russ said. “Do I think the success of Central Avenue depends on that? I don\u2019t.”<\/p>\n

What’s next:<\/p>\n

While 90TEN said it hopes to invest in additional St. Petersburg properties in the near future, Gallery Haus is expected to open to tenants in summer 2028.<\/p>\n

The Source: The information in this story was gathered during interviews with developers from Miami that are behind the “Gallery Haus” development and the Dallas-based real estate investment firm that acquired three Central Avenue properties.\u00a0<\/p>\n

St. Petersburg<\/a>Rays Stadium Plans<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – As the Tampa Bay Rays\u2019 future in St. Petersburg remains uncertain, some investors and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":86193,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[47,115,1157,29208,202,204,203,199,201,200,628],"class_list":["post-86192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-fl","tag-news","tag-pinellas","tag-rays-stadium","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86192","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=86192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}