Wooing voters in St. Petersburg
If the Tampa Bay Devil Rays are ever going to advance their plans for a new downtown ballpark, they will have to get the voters of St. Petersburg to go along. A big part of the financing plans hinges on the sale of the property where Tropicana Field sits now, which would be redeveloped into a mixed use commercial, residential and office district. This plan would raise an estimated $250-$350 million, enough to pay off the remaining debt on the Trop and go towards funding the construction of the new venue.
So the Rays are taking their case to the community, holding a series of meetings with community groups, churches, condo associations, pretty much anywhere there is a group of people to listen.
Here is a web site which pretty much outlines every detail of the project. Pretty nifty renderings of the new ballpark, site plans for the Trop redevelopment, and even vintage photos of baseball in St. Pete in the old days.
My take on all this? Having owned residential property in the area (a condo on Treasure Island - I sold in ‘06 just as the market topped - YaY for me!), I am wondering if the plans for the new Trop neighborhood are just a tad too ambitious. Tampa/St. Pete is awash in surplus residential property with “for sale” signs everywhere one looks. Just who is going to buy all these new residences and what new exciting retail outlets are going to set up shop in an area that is in an economically challenged district? Cabelas? IKEA? ESPN Zone? Puh-leeze!
The best tonic to push the November referendum over the top would be a 2007 Rays team which would still be playing meaningful baseball in September. How about a pennant run? We can all dream, can’t we!
baseball » Wooing voters in St. Petersburg Says:January 27th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
[…] Andrew Kulyk wrote a fantastic post today on “Wooing voters in St. Petersburg”Here’s ONLY a quick extractIf the Tampa Bay Devil Rays are ever going to advance their plans for a new downtown ballpark, they will have to get the voters of St. Petersburg to go along. A big part of the financing plans hinges on the sale of the property where … […]
Jason Says:January 28th, 2008 at 10:55 am
There is plenty of reason to believe major retailers will make the Trop site their home. Pinellas is the most densly populated county in Florida and has pathetic retail offerings, largely because there is no available land. With amazing transportation access at the center of the market, the Trop would solve that problem in one shot. As for residential, rental product is going up all around the Trop, and in 4 years when the project would open we’ll be well into the next cycle.
wcperspective Says:January 30th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Certainly is unique and unique typically means expensive. Any polling on the chances of getting it passed??? As sports-crazy as WNY is, I wonder how stadium funding would fare in Erie County.