PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Warren Willingham and Madison Rice love St. Petersburg and now live just outside the city’s vibrant downtown.
“We looked for housing here back a couple years, but it was already super incredibly unaffordable, and it’s definitely gone that way since,” Willingham said.
That’s why he and Rice are paying attention as the city looks to redevelop the city’s Gas Plant District, which is home to Tropicana Field and the Tampa Bay Rays.
“I could not care less about the Rays,” Willingham said.
He and Rice care about affordable housing the most.
“We have a housing crisis right now, and you know, who would we be if we didn’t do all that we can to fix that?” Rice said.
Affordable housing was a major focus as hundreds of people gathered in The Colosseum on Wednesday night to learn more about the four proposals that four different development teams have presented for the site.
Sugar Hill Community Partners, one of the developers, calls for a dual-use stadium that both the Rays and Rowdies can use in its proposal.
Among other amenities, its plan also calls for a new African American History Museum, a renovation of Campbell Park, and housing units — 50% of which would be at affordable or workforce-level prices.
Another developer, Restoration Associates, calls for at least 2,350 units of affordable/workforce housing too in a multi-phase project.
Its plan calls for either a retractable-dome stadium or renovation of the current stadium, depending on home much money is available.
Its plan would also use some of the sprawling site for storage units, an African American Cultural Museum, and an “intermodal” transportation system that will shuttle people to and from the site.
Developer 50-Plus-1 says its proposal would need no city funding. It calls for more than 3,000 housing units that are at either affordable or workforce prices.
Its plan would replace Tropicana Field with an open-air baseball stadium.
It describes itself as 100% minority owned. Its plan also calls for a central gathering space, Booker Creek Commons.
Finally, developer Hines calls for 1,459 affordable housing units, a state-of-the-art ballpark, and the construction of a new Woodson African-American Museum.
It says it will spend more than $500 million to target minority, small, and women-owned businesses. Its plan — unlike the others — has the support and partnership of the Tampa Bay Rays.
“My number one priority has always been to make sure we keep the Rays in Tampa Bay. This is the best route to doing so in St. Petersburg,” Brian Auld, the President of the Rays, said of the Hines proposal.
Auld could not say what will happen if the City of St. Pete does not select the Hines plan.
“We’ve got to have other options on the table,” he added.
Mayor Ken Welch, meanwhile, cannot say for sure if the team will stay in St. Petersburg or look to move to Tampa.
“I was in Tiger Bay yesterday with (Tampa) Mayor (Jane) Castor, and we talked about we’re both giving it our best shot,” he said.
However, Welch thinks St. Petersburg now has four good proposals to deliver baseball and other important things, like equity, green space, and affordable housing, to its citizens and visitors.
“We’re putting our best effort forward,” he said. “I’m really optimistic.”
Welch — who cannot say if he has a favorite proposal at this point — said city staff is still conducting analyses of the proposals and will present the pros and cons of each to Welch in a final report that could be delivered to him on Jan. 13.
Welch said he will consider that report and public feedback about the four proposals before announcing his pick in his State of the City address at the end of January.
You can see each proposal and find out how you can send the city your thoughts and opinions, CLICK HERE..
