St. Petersburg City Council

Mayor Ken Welch said now is not the time to stop any progress that has been made in what would become the largest redevelopment project in the city's history.

Members of the St. Petersburg City Council want to pause negotiations over the redevelopment of Tropicana Field. They're concerned the city has no updated plan for the 84-acre Historic Gas Plant district.

City council members unanimously approved selling the once-beloved educational institution to a local group.

“Meanwhile, we have a group that’s ready to go,” council member Gina Driscoll said of efforts to rebuild Albert Whitted Airport, which was damaged from Hurricane Milton.

“Anybody who was interested in it will have that 60-day time period to do something, and this has been talked about for a long time.”

Two cities could find themselves in a legal battle that could take years and tens of millions of dollars. We take a look at one city that did — and what others could learn from it.

Said St. Petersburg City Council chair Copley Gerdes: “We’ve got a responsibility to move both intentionally and quickly.”

Council member Brandi Gabbard believes the Urban Land Institute (ULI) can provide that “guiding document” for city officials.

The vote was delayed following an exchange between Mayor Ken Welch and city council member Brandi Gabbard.

The ferry between St. Petersburg and Tampa shut down in April after the previous operator wanted to replace its boat with a slower, more expensive one.

Public Works Administrator Claude Tankersley said officials now expect to receive disaster recovery funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) “sooner than we had anticipated.”

The city and businesses have benefitted from the regular influx of baseball fans since the Rays began play in 1998, Lawmakers say plans to replace that revenue require immediate attention.