A report on the possible economic impact of a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium is out. It will come before the Hillsborough County Commissioners on Thursday.
The economic impact analysis was commissioned by the Tampa Sports Authority, which would manage the new stadium.
The report by the consulting firm AECOM estimates the ballpark and its surrounding development would have an economic impact of $75 billion over 30 years.
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That is, if the proposed development surrounding the ballpark is built. That privately financed construction would include more than 8 million square feet of offices, hotels, restaurants and the rebuilding of Hillsborough College's Dale Mabry campus on the property's west side.
But first, a way has to be found to pay for the stadium. The Rays are asking for more than $1 billion in public money to help build an indoor stadium that's expected to cost at least $2.3 billion. They plan to ask to tap into tourist bed taxes and a recently passed half-cent sales tax. Hillsborough County commissioners have asked for an outside legal opinion on whether that sales tax could be used to pay for sports stadiums.
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"This report is intended to estimate potential future tax collections based upon a set of informed assumptions. This report does not provide any recommendations regarding development or financing of the project or any component thereof, nor does it express or imply any terms of agreement between the parties involved," wrote Dillon Gilman, a senior analyst with AECOM.
Here are some of the findings:
- AECOM estimated total supportable development to be 7.6 million square feet in the Stadium District over 30 years, including 5.9 million square feet of market-driven rental apartments, multi-tenant office, destination retail, dining and entertainment, and hotels, plus 1.7 million square feet of office and other district anchors planned by the developer.
- 30-year gross fiscal impacts from confirmed available sources is estimated at $2.2 billion, including ad valorem taxes for the city and county operating budget millage, state and county sales taxes, tourism development tax, and the proposed admissions surcharge, which is an 8% fee applied to ticket sales within the Stadium District with a minimum ticket price threshold and maximum fee per ticket.
- Phase 1 assessed values are estimated to be $1.4 billion in 2034, and total assessed values are estimated to be $4.8 billion for the entire Stadium District in 2058. This excludes the stadium and Hillsborough Community College.
- Direct economic impacts are estimated to total $63 billion in output, $19 billion in wage earnings, and 7,400 jobs supported (30-year annual average). Adding indirect impacts brings the total output to $75 billion, wage earnings to $24 billion and average annual jobs supported to 9,750.
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The Rays want to build a 30,000-seat indoor stadium on land now used by the college's Dale Mabry campus in the Drew Park neighborhood across from Raymond James Stadium. The team has committed to paying $1.235 billion and construction overruns. Once the stadium is built, the team said it will be responsible for facility management and operating expenses.
The team plans to help fund stadium construction using future increases in property tax revenue from the privately financed multiuse development, captured through the existing Drew Park Community Redevelopment Area.
All public dollars would be used to pay off bonds issued to pay for the ballpark.
The Rays want to move into the stadium for the 2029 season. Their lease at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg ends after the 2028 season. All agreements must be approved by June 1 to reach that goal, the team said.
