St. Pete Spotlight

Let’s play ball! City of St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch selected the team of Hines + Rays to redevelop the Historic Gas Plant District site. Spanning 86 acres of publicly-owned land nestled in the middle of St. Pete, Florida, with one of the most vibrant and walkable downtowns in the nation, the Historic Gas Plant District represents a development opportunity unlike any other in the Southeast.

The development team consists of Hines, one of the world’s largest developers, world-class affordable housing developer Dantes Partners, and the Tampa Bay Rays, the region’s Major League baseball team located in St. Petersburg. Gensler will serve as the master plan architect, with Populous as the stadium architect. Storyn Studio for Architecture will serve as local architect, EDSA and Hood Design Studio will provide landscape design, and the civil and transportation engineers will be Kimley-Horn.

Multi-Use City Center to Include Office, Residential, Retail, and More

The $4.6 billion project with 14 acres of public space is planned to include:

• Office: 1.4 million sf
• Residential: 5,728 units
• Retail: 320,000 sf
• Hotel: 700 keys
• Senior Living: 600 units

The City of St. Petersburg has dedicated a minimum of $75 million for infrastructure development of the site (formerly known as the Tropicana Field site) and will partner with Hines + Rays to create a multi-use city center that reflects the diverse and rich culture of St. Petersburg and adheres to principles developed through community engagement, including equitable opportunity, vibrancy, and economic vitality for years to come.

• Located in the “Sunshine City” Opportunity Zone and Tax Increment Financing District in the middle of bustling downtown St. Pete
• Just off I-275 within 20 miles of two international airports
• 94,000 employees in a 4-mile radius with an average annual salary of more than $100,000
• Sustainable, market-feasible, mixed-use development in a high-intensity urban context, including retail, residential, hotel and conference space, office, recreation, and open space, and an education/tech campus to provide synergy with a Major League Baseball stadium
• Local city government dedicating $75 million for infrastructure development

The Historic Gas Plant District is adjacent to St. Pete’s Central Business District and near the City’s higher education hub, the South’s largest marine science cluster, and one of Florida’s largest financial services clusters.

Substantial Economic and Equity Impact

Once built out, the project is estimated to generate an annual economic impact of nearly $1.4 billion ($700 million in present-day dollars) in Pinellas County. Estimated labor earnings are $656 million ($338 million present-day) and more than 5,500 full-time equivalent jobs.

In addition, Hines and the Rays have committed $50 million to intentional equity initiatives in partnership with the South St. Pete community.

The City’s timeline anticipates that Mayor Ken Welch will present a development agreement to the City Council in the fall of 2023.

For more, visit the City’s Historic Gas Plant District Redevelopment page.