The City of St. Petersburg wants the public to weigh in on the redevelopment of the Historic Gas Plant District — again.
It’s the fourth time in 20 years that the city has initiated a request for proposal (RFP) process for the 86-acre site downtown, which includes Tropicana Field.
Last week, the city hosted an open house at the Coliseum to kick-start a 30-day public comment period for the latest round of developer bids, all of which reimagine the site without a ballpark.
More than 500 people attended in person and online to hear directly from the four development teams the city considers top contenders.
The city held a near-identical event at the beginning of 2023, which resulted in a $6.5 billion revitalization agreement with the Rays-Hines group that ultimately fell through in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton. It also led the Tampa Bay Rays' leadership to shop elsewhere for a permanent home and a new stadium agreement.
ALSO READ: Rays say they 'won't move forward' with plans for new stadium project in St. Petersburg
The latest batch of development bids for the district reflects a return to what St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch has said was always the mission of this project: to make good on broken promises.
Before the district was razed to make way for the stadium in the 1980s, it was home to a bustling Black neighborhood.
“As I’ve said before … it’s time to move forward to fulfill the decades-long promise of equitable and beneficial development of this site, and this selection process will determine if that goal is attainable through one or more of these proposals,” Welch said Thursday, ahead of the presentations.
Welch said he is evaluating developers' plans based on how they address four community needs: job creation, affordable housing, economic opportunity and honoring promises made to former neighborhood residents.
The mayor is expected to select one or more developers for the site in June. Before then, the city is accepting public input using this feedback form. Here is a look at the four proposals:
ARK Ellison Horus LLC: 'global epicenter for innovation'
- Seek to create 14,296 high-wage jobs in tech (19,736 total)
- Build 1,925 affordable and workforce housing (3,701 total units), with 446 affordable homes built within the first 1,000 days
- Estimated cost to city is $120 million, with an economic return of $28 billion
- Promises to relocate the Woodson African American Museum with a 50,000-square-foot rebuild to anchor the district, hire 40% locally and minority-owned businesses for project rollout, and accelerate affordable housing construction.
The four-fold development team, comprised of ARK Investment Management, Ellison Development, Horus Construction Services and Baker Barrios, submitted an unsolicited proposal to redevelop the district in fall 2025, which sparked the latest bidding process for the area.
Presenting to the public on Thursday, Jonathan Graham, owner of Horus Construction Services, said he grew up in the district along with 10 other members of the development team.
Read the full proposal here.
"This area, this land, has a story. Before it was a dome, before there were concrete and parking lots and everything around; there was a neighborhood," he said.
Ark Ellison Horus proposes to create a "blockchain-based" growth fund that would allow community members to invest directly into the project. The master plan envisions transforming the district into a global hub for startups, culture, innovation and artificial intelligence.
Foundation Vision Partners: 'anti-master plan'
- No commitment made to job creation
- Ability to build 4,700-plus mixed-use residential units, if city approved
- Estimated total city investment of $239 million with an economic return of $1.4 billion annually, while retaining land ownership (projected value of about $510 million)
- Promises to co-create a master plan with the city in a prolonged parcel-by-parcel fashion that will "capture local priorities" and "honor the district's history."
Staff who worked on the Rays-Hines proposal, including former Hines development partner Alex Schapira and consultant Anddrikk Frazier, are taking another shot at developing the district under the umbrella of Foundation Vision Partners.
This time around, architectural firm Gensler, which was awarded the Rays-Hines master plan, as well as Gasworx, Midtown Tampa and the new St. Pete Pier, would focus on "horizontal prep work," like improving public infrastructure, to deliver development-ready land for the city to sell to developers, bit by bit.
Read the full proposal here.
Presenting on Thursday, Will Conroy of Backstreets Capital alluded to the three failed attempts in recent history to redevelop the site using an RFP process.
"Are we as a city once again going to hand the keys — all of them — to a single private developer? Are we as a city once again going to try a strategy that has failed somewhat spectacularly three times before?" he asked.
Rather, he said, the answer is the parcel-by-parcel approach that keeps the city in the driver's seat.
Pinellas County Housing Authority: tiny slice of the pie
- No commitment to job creation
- Build a seven-story, 80-unit affordable senior apartment, with a preference given to former residents of the Historic Gas Plant District; rent subsidized by housing vouchers
- Land transfer from the city to the Pinellas County Housing Authority
- Promises to give housing preference to seniors with ties to the district, and to maintain long-term affordability
The housing authority is eyeing 0.58 acres of city-owned land at 1659 Third Ave. S., within the district to build "deeply affordable housing for seniors," with preference to renters who are former residents of the neighborhood. The midrise, 80-unit property would subsidize rent with federal housing vouchers.
While the project is located within the district, it's not technically included in the 86-acre redevelopment site, according to the unsolicited offer by the housing authority.
Read the full proposal here.
Real estate broker John Barkett, presenting on Thursday, said the development team assembled by the authority has a proven track record of building affordable housing.
"We're not the flash and sizzle. That's not what it's about. We're not pretty pictures, but ... we've got built, occupied and operating deeply affordable housing right here in St. Petersburg in Pinellas County," he said.
The housing authority said residents can join an interest list for available or future affordable units using this link.
The Burg Bid LLC: 'the home team' and 'highest bidder'
- No commitment to job creation; plans to build a workforce training hub called "the Collaboratorium;" vision for attracting jobs in tourism, hospitality and healthcare
- Build 3,600-plus "income-restricted" housing units, with 1,800 units within the district; part of a mixed-income district with market-rate housing
- Estimated $20 million deposit by the city; request for Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) funds to build 18.5 acres of park space
- Creation of "museum row" with the permanent relocation of the Woodson African American Museum, Museum of Public Art and Discovery Center; nine bridges over Booker Creek; and establishment of a volunteer-based advisory committee to provide ongoing community feedback
The St. Petersburg-based team is valuing the site at $405 million, nearly four times the value of all prior bids, according to the proposal, and offering $275 million for 58 acres of the site.
Thompson Whitney Blake, CEO of private equity firm Blake Investment Partners, made an all-cash offer for the site last year, just hours after the former Rays ownership pulled out of the Hines-Rays deal, the St. Pete Catalyst reported.
Read the full proposal here.
Speaking on Thursday, Blake appealed to residents as a fellow "St. Petersburgian."
"We as St. Petersburg have gotten very used to people thinking about this site as ... owned by New Yorkers, or baseball, or people from Texas, or now Jacksonville — or even worse, people from Tampa," he said. "I'd like you to see this as a way to bring the best back to St. Pete. I'd like you to see these people as your new home team."
Separating its proposal from the rest is the number of housing units promised, as well as an emphasis on early learning and career readiness opportunities for children.
The development team is partnering with the Boy & Girls Clubs of Greater Tampa Bay and CareerSource Tampa Bay, and is in early discussions with R1 research institutions — doctoral universities with high research activity such as the University of South Florida, according to their proposal.
Gabriella Paul covers the stories of people living paycheck to paycheck in the greater Tampa Bay region for WUSF. Here’s how you can share your story with her.
