St. Petersburg City Council approves bonds for Rays stadium, Gas Plant

ST. PETERSBURG — The City Council on Thursday followed through with approving bonds to fund its portion of a $1.3 billion stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays and the surrounding Historic Gas Plant District.

The 4-3 decision, in line with past votes taken on the stadium and redevelopment, now leaves it to the Pinellas County Commission to potentially have the final say on the deal. On Dec. 17, the commission could approve their bonds and lock the Rays and its development partner Hines into the cost overruns the team now says it can’t afford, or vote no and possibly leave a $312.5 million hole in the project.

Council member Gina Driscoll, who pushed for the delay when the council last met Nov. 21, said the city needed then to take a breath. Tensions at that meeting had boiled over as Rays president Brian Auld indicated the deal was dead and City Administrator Rob Gerdes asked for an official letter terminating the deal, which never came.

Driscoll, along with council members Deborah Figgs-Sanders, Copley Gerdes and Brandi Gabbard, voted to take out bonds to finance $287.5 million for the stadium and $142 million for roads and sewers in the Gas Plant. Council members Lisset Hanewicz, Richie Floyd and John Muhammad voted no.

“Are the Rays on the verge of sending a termination letter? Turns out they weren’t. They’re still in. And so am I,” Driscoll said, urging the county to “do their part and join us to see this through.”

Still unknown, however, is whether the Rays can carry out their end of the deal approved by the city and county in July. Team presidents Auld and Matt Silverman wrote a letter before a commission meeting last month stating the club could no longer afford to open a ballpark in 2029, a year later than planned, following delays in the bond votes. The Rays are on the hook for $700 million for the stadium, plus all overages.

That led to the county and city delaying votes and starting a back-and-forth in correspondence between the commission chairperson and the Rays. Silverman had a change of tone in his last letter, saying the current agreements are still “in effect” and the club awaits decisions from the city and county.

Before the council’s vote, Mayor Ken Welch, the architect of the deal, said Rays owner Stuart Sternberg and his team attended a meeting at City Hall on Tuesday. Welch told the council there is “consensus” that the agreements approved in July are “valid and in effect,” though “significant issues” remain regarding the Rays’ stadium obligations.

“The discussions were productive, and our options are becoming clearer,” Welch said.

The Rays were not present at the council meeting Thursday, which irked Hanewicz, a staunch critic of the deal and its legal language. In a text message to the Tampa Bay Times after the meeting, Silverman said, “We appreciate that the St. Petersburg City Council took action on this item today.”

City Administrator Rob Gerdes said the Rays offered to attend, but he said he told them it wasn’t necessary to come. Hanewicz said she spoke to Silverman and was told the Rays decided not to come.

“There’s no commitment to move forward,” she said. “There’s no clarity. That’s what will happen with all the agreements between the parties, and this is how a 30-year relationship is ultimately beginning.”

Gerdes said the city’s conversations with the Rays focused on the funding gap the Rays “perceive.” He said the private sector could fill in those gaps with suite and name sponsorship rights. When Hanewicz asked what the funding gap is, Gerdes said he didn’t know.

“As Mayor (Welch) clearly stated, we cannot financially make up that gap,” Gerdes said.

At the beginning of the meeting, Hanewicz objected to adding the votes on the bonds to the agenda with only a day’s notice to the public. Muhammad and Floyd voted with her to reject the meeting’s agenda, but it passed anyway. The city is not legally required to advertise notice for the bond resolutions.

The stadium deal, an elusive feat 17 years in the making, seemed like a done deal, as the bond votes were viewed as a formality. But then came hurricanes Helene and Milton, the latter storm shredding the roof on Tropicana Field and creating another problem about where the Rays would play their 2025 season. The team has announced plans to play home games at Tampa’s Steinbrenner Field, where the New York Yankees play spring training games, next year.

Concessionaire Levy Restaurants formally told staff their jobs at Tropicana Field were terminated at year’s end.

Workers were notified via email that with the stadium unusable for now, the company’s operations were “on hold until further notice” and their “employment will be terminated as of Dec. 31.”

Some will have an option to transfer to another facility serviced by Levy, such as the Florida State Fairgrounds. (Tampa’s Steinbrenner Field and Raymond James Stadium are serviced by Legends Hospitality, and Amalie Arena uses Cur(ate) TPA.)

Michele Dyson, a 10-year bartender at Tropicana Field, shared the Levy news in speaking to the council in support of the bonds deal.

In her comments, Dyson said: “I’m here to remind you that every time you vote your decisions have a direct impact on people’s lives, no matter the topic. Please never forget that. So I’m here in support of the new Rays baseball stadium and the impact it has on this community.”

The council is scheduled to vote on whether to approve $1.45 million to hire a contractor to design plans for Tropicana Field’s roof replacement next week. The council last month rejected spending $23.7 million to repair the roof after Auld said the team preferred a no vote because it didn’t believe the new roof could be in place by the 2026 season, and the club could seek alternative plans.

The hurricane also delayed bond votes past the November election, allowing for new members unfavorable to the deal to join the County Commission. Before the meeting, Commissioner Vince Nowicki stood by as a few members of an organized group against the stadium deal, No Home Run, held a news conference on the steps of City Hall urging the council to vote no.

Nowicki later emailed all council members urging them to vote no to “force a better deal for the city and the county.”

The Rays are the only party in the agreements with the power to back out of the deal with an official notice. It’s not clear what would happen if the county votes no on their bonds.

“If that doesn’t happen, of course, that sets us on a different path,” Welch said. “We will determine the best path if that takes place. I’m very hopeful that they will again reaffirm the 30-year value of the agreement that we signed back in July to move forward.”

Times staff writer Marc Topkin contributed to this report.