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Stadium proposal in St. Petersburg, Florida, US From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gas Plant Stadium is a planned indoor ballpark in St. Petersburg, Florida. When constructed, it will serve as the home of the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball.[1][2] The construction cost is estimated to be $1.3 billion and the total cost to public will be $1.5 billion. This is the latest proposal for a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium, in addition to Ybor Stadium and Rays Ballpark; the Rays have played in Tropicana Field since their inaugural season in 1998.
Drawing of the proposed stadium and surrounding area | |
 | |
| Location | St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 27°46′6″N 82°39′12″W |
| Capacity | 30,000 |
| Acreage | 86 |
| Surface | Artificial turf |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | Winter 2025 (planned) |
| Opened | 2028 (planned) |
| Construction cost | $1.3 billion (estimate) |
| Architect | Hines |
| Tenants | |
| Tampa Bay Rays (MLB) | |
On September 19, 2023, the Tampa Bay Rays announced plans to build a new stadium adjacent to their current stadium, Tropicana Field.[3] The proposal involves redeveloping the entire 86-acre (34.8 ha) site, with the new ballpark within that boundary and adjacent to the current ballpark, which will subsequently be demolished.[4][5]
The construction is estimated at a cost of $1.3 billion, with the city of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County contributing $600 million through a bed tax (a six percent tax on accommodations on hotels and private homes rented for less than six months),[6] and the team contributing the rest. Factoring in the cash, tax breaks, and discounted land being offered to Rays, the public cost of the project will be $1.5 billion.[7][8]
Plans call for a 30,000-seat fixed-roof stadium, while the surrounding ballpark village would include 4,800 market-rate residences and 1,200 affordable and workforce housing units; about 600 of the latter would be located off-site. It would have 1,400,000 square feet (130,064 m2) of office space, 750,000 square feet (69,677 m2) of retail space, a 100,000-square-foot (9,290 m2) conference center, and 750-room hotel, for a total of $6.5 billion. Unlike Tropicana Field, the stadium will feature operable walls and windows that can be opened on pleasant days or closed to ward off Florida’s summer heat, rain and humidity.[9][10]
The development site is planned to encompass 8,000,000 sq ft (743,224 m2) of development, including: 48,000 residential units, 1,200 affordable/workforce unites, 1,400,000 sq ft (130,064 m2) office/medical space, 750,000 sq ft (69,677 m2) of retail space, 750 hotel rooms, a 4,000 seat concert venue, 30,000 capacity ballpark, 100,000 sq ft (9,290 m2) conference/meeting space, 50,000 sq ft (4,645 m2) non-profit community space, 14 acres (5.7 ha) of parks/open space and 14,000 parking stalls.[2]
The site is known as the Historic Gas Plant District, described by the city of St. Petersburg:[11]
Nearly 40 years ago, members of the Historic Gas Plant community were displaced by the ultimately successful pursuit of Major League Baseball and the eventual construction of what is now Tropicana Field. While the move brought our city the Tampa Bay Rays, originally known as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, residents and businesses were forced to relocate with the promise of jobs, opportunity, and equitable development, which did not materialize.
On April 25, 2024, the development team released documents on the 65 acres (26.3 ha) of development surrounding the ballpark in advance of the May 9 city council meeting.[12][13]
On July 18, 2024, the St. Petersburg City Council approved a financing deal to build the stadium. After three hours of presentations and discussion, council members voted 5–3 to approve a dozen legally binding documents between the city, Pinellas County, the Rays and their development partner, Hines. They also swiftly approved issuing municipal bonds to help pay for the city’s share of stadium costs, $287.5 million, and for roads and sewers around it, another $142 million. The Rays will contribute $700 million to the stadium. They are responsible for all cost overruns on the stadium and infrastructure for the Historic Gas Plant District, as well as all insurance, maintenance and repairs to the stadium. The team will keep all revenue from tickets and concessions, broadcasting and naming rights.[14]
On July 30, 2024, Pinellas County commissioners approved funding for a new ballpark. Commissioners voted 5–2 to put $312.5 million toward the design and building of a new ballpark. The money will come from tourist development tax dollars, which the county can legally spend on a narrow range of projects meant to induce tourism, including sports venues. The Rays and Hines plan to begin building the stadium in early 2025, having it ready for Opening Day in 2028.[15][16]
Hurricane Milton made landfall along Florida's Gulf Coast on October 9, 2024, and impact from the storm (including significant damage to the roof of Tropicana Field) could impact the schedule of the project. The Rays will not play at Tropicana Field in 2025 due to this damage, which could possibly necessitate a more urgent need for this stadium if they decide to never play at Tropicana again.[17]
On November 19, 2024, it was reported that the stadium deal with Pinellas County was beginning to fall through due to a combination of the damage from Hurricanes Helene and Milton as well as the decision for the Rays to spend the 2025 season at George M. Steinbrenner Field across the bay in Tampa proper instead of a spring training stadium in the county. Stu Sternberg has warned that if the Rays are not able to get a new stadium, they may leave the Tampa Bay area.[18][19] Later that day, it was confirmed that the vote for bonds funding the stadium would be delayed, thus suspending the project.
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